Joe Jonas is looking back at his previous relationship with Taylor Swift. The singer shared his thoughts about being one of the star’s “ex-boyfriends,” and why he “understands” how the Swifties might feel about him after the controversial way in which he broke up with Taylor.

During a recent conversation with Dax Shepard on the ‘Armchair Expert‘ podcast, Joe talked about how it feels to have his love life in the public eye after the host asked him about the response from Taylor’s fans after the split in 2008. “It’s been many years removed,” Joe shared, explaining that her fans got “mad” at him at the time, however, he is now “cool with Taylor.

“No one f—s with the Swifties, you know?” he said, adding that he “hopes to think they like me.” The pair also talked about Taylor’s song ‘All Too Well’ inspired by her ex Jake Gyllenhaal, to which Joe said that he “understands” why fans have that reaction.

“We don’t really have a nickname for [our fans] but ... we get it,” he said about his band. “We understand they’re passionate about their artists and protective, like, ‘This is my artist, how dare you!’”

Joe wrote a statement on MySpace at the time after the split was made public. “For those who have expressed concern over the ‘27 second’ phone call, I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well received. I did not end the conversation. Someone else did. Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to talk. Anytime you are in a relationship for any length of time there are going to be issues.”