“I don’t think it’s normal to have the same collaborators over and over": Jack Antonoff says he has no problem with not being involved on Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life Of A Showgirl

He suggests that it was a “weird miracle” that the two of them had such a long run together

If you’re a songwriter and producer who’s worked extensively with an artist on their previous seven studio albums, there must be a part of you that assumes that you’re going to get the call to collaborate on the next one.

Jack Antonoff, however, says that he totally understands why Taylor Swift chose to go in a different direction on The Life Of A Showgirl, and suggests that it was a “weird miracle” that the two of them had such a long run together prior to that.

The Bleachers frontman made his remarks in an interview with Howard Stern, explaining that “I only feel grateful for the work that has happened.”

In light of a question about his absence from 2025’s The Life Of A Showgirl, which Swift made with Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback, he added: “Maybe it’s only because I write my own songs and sing them, but I understand that need to have different collaborators and jump around.”

In fact, says Antonoff, it’s actually the constant creative partnerships that should be the ones that raise eyebrows.

“I don’t think it’s normal to have the same collaborators over and over, and when I’ve had it with people, I think it’s a weird miracle,” he confirms. He shared that his perspective as a singer makes him understand the need to work with numerous people. “I only feel grateful for the work that has happened,” he insisted. “Maybe it’s only because I write my own songs and sing them, but I understand that need to have different collaborators and jump around.”

Speaking to The New York Times on Tuesday (April 28), Swift set the record straight on how she feels about Antonoff. “Jack Antonoff is a collaborator of mine and one of my best friends,” she said, before detailing their process together.

“We established this thing that we love to do, and we call it the rant bridge,” she said. “It’s basically like stream of consciousness, endless pouring-out of emotion, intrusive thoughts, blended with metaphor, with discussion, with shouting. You want this rant bridge to feel the most intense of what that feeling is that you’re trying to establish over the course of the song, and you want it to be kind of a crescendo.”