Did Reese Witherspoon Cause Jake Gyllenhaal To Dump Taylor?

Did the ghost of relationships past cause Jake Gyllenhaal to dump Taylor Swift recently? It does seem strange that the 30-year-old Love and Other Drugs star, who dated other celebrities like Kirsten Dunst and Reese Witherspoon before meeting Swift, reportedly ended things with Taylor because he didn't like the amount of publicity surrounding their relationship. (And wasn't he was promoting a movie during most of the relationship? Wouldn't the added publicity have been a good thing?)

Regardless, the idea that the actor did not like being on the cover of tabloid magazines starts to make sense when you consider E!'s theory that Jake had no desire to through another high-profile breakup like he did with Reese. If you remember, Reese dumped Jake in 2009 and started to date her agent, Jim Toth, a few months later.

"[Jake] was really caught off guard and taken aback by how Reese ended it," claims an insider to E!. "Honestly, he's still reeling from that." Jake Gyllenhaal & Taylor Swift Break Up

And perhaps because Taylor has gone through quite a few relationships herself at the young age of 21 (and reportedly broke up with Taylor Lautner because they fought about what restaurants to eat at), Jake didn't want to seem like a loser in love yet again?

"Let's just say Jake was surprised by all the attention [he found with Taylor], and the last thing he wanted was another public, surprise breakup. Taylor's young, you just don't know what could have happened. He needed to contain it, before it went any further. He's just not in that relationship space right now."

Reese's recent announcement that she's engaged must have also stung. But then again, maybe it was a wake-up call to Jake and made him realize that if he ever really wants to move on from his relationship from Reese, he probably shouldn't be dating a 21-year-old singer at the peak of her career, and who, as CollegeCandy points out, might also be a Stage 5 clinger.