John Mayer: A Lesson in Backpedaling

John Mayer: what can you say. Personally he drives me nuts and I would rather do almost anything else than have to listen to him. However, in addition to the sound of his voice making me cringe, Mr. Mayer has made a few very public missteps as of late.

“John Mayer did some damage control on his Twitter [recently], apologizing for controversial statements he made in a “raw” interview with Playboy.” (Rolling Stone)

He got explicit with Playboy magazine, using some choice metaphors when speaking about his sex life with Jessica Simpson, as well as some dirty details regarding his preference for white women. He also described a “make out” session with Perez Hilton that he initiated. Enough said about that, though the two kinda seem made for each other…

However, the worst was still yet to come. In the interview that John gave with Playboy he continued on to reference a “hood pass” and renamed it using the ‘N’ word, which did not go over well at all.

It was that last statement and its fallout that had Mayer backpedaling. “I am sorry that I used the word. And it’s such a shame that I did because the point I was trying to make was in the exact opposite spirit of the word itself. It was arrogant of me to think I could intellectualize using it, because I realize that there’s no intellectualizing a word that is so emotionally charged,” Mayer tweeted. He added, “I think it’s time to stop trying to be so raw in interviews… It started as an attempt to not let the waves of criticism get to me, but it’s gotten out of hand and I’ve created somewhat of a monster. I wanted to be a blues guitar player. And a singer. And a songwriter. Not a shock jock. I don’t have the stomach for it.” Mayer also apologized during his concert last week in Nashville, which is available on Ustream.

He crashed and burned big time, and has been trying to make up since through not only Twitter, but frequently at his live shows. The backlash has seemed to slow though, as Mayer continues to apologize and make amends. During his recent concerts at Madison Square Garden (both packed of course) – he tried to engage the crowd:

“Mayer seemed to savor the audience’s reaction to the line “It’s a long night in New York City” from “Who Says.” And perhaps feeling safe in his adopted hometown, Mayer got vulnerable during Friday’s show-closing “Gravity,” and debuted new lyrics that seem inspired by his Playboy fallout. He explained his new theory, that “lovelessness leads to loneliness, which leads to sadness, which leads to anger, which leads to hate” and spoke of imperfect batting averages.” (Rolling Stone)

All in all, I’m not convinced. I think he said something stupid, and maybe didn’t mean it the way it came out – but that’s the whole point isn’t it? It should have never have come out of his mouth. It shouldn’t be the manner in how he thinks about the word, nor deep down feels about the word. He is a playboy by nature – and gave Playboy magazine the real show. A real look at how he feels about women, treats people, and his own superiority. Maybe my dislike for him has made me biased – I’m sure it has, but still John Mayer has lost the chance to gain any points in my book.

What are your thoughts on the whole debacle? Can he really backpedal enough?

T. Lynn

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Tags: john mayer, playboy, rolling stone, twitter