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John Mayer 'Loves Black Women,' Offends Everyone

By Brooke Tarnoff Posted Feb 10th 2010 07:44PM

Right about now, John Mayer is surely wishing he'd used his mouth for a little more singing and a little less candid chatter. Mayer has taken heat today for some crude remarks made in a new Playboy interview. Among other overshares, the singer told the magazine that ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson was his "sexual napalm."

"That girl is like crack cocaine to me," Mayer said.

But if you think it's in poor taste to discuss the particulars of his sex life with Simpson, buckle up -- it gets worse. A casual inclusion of the 'N' word has launched a flurry of Twitter-apologies, but here at PopEater, we think the racial slur was just the tip of the inappropriate iceberg. After the jump, we look at what Mayer said and why his apology falls short.

The singer boasted, "I come on very strong. I am a very... I'm just very. V-E-R-Y. And if you can't handle very, then I'm a douche bag. But I think the world needs a little very. That's why black people love me."

Asked to clarify his definition of "very," Mayer made the unfortunate word choice: "Someone asked me the other day, 'What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?' And by the way, it's sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a n**** pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, 'I can't really have a hood pass' I've never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, 'We're full.'"

Mayer used his Twitter page to offer a series of apologies, writing: "Re: using the 'N word' in an interview: 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."

He continued, "And while I'm using today for looking at myself under harsh light, 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 concluded, "Because I don't want anyone to think I'm equivocating: I should have never said the word and I will never say it again."

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Mayer Takes on Race in a More Appropriate Context With Dave Chappelle

We're not certain we buy the excuse that Mayer has been too relaxed in interviews -- we've had any number of casual conversations without throwing around racial epithets -- but we appreciate Mayer's attempt at sincerity. What we don't appreciate is his failure to address any of his other, equally offensive words.

Mayer told Playboy that he has not been open to the sexual advances of the black women who so adore him: "My d*** is sort of like a white supremacist. I've got a Benetton heart and a f*****' David Duke c***. I'm going to start dating separately from my d***."

It's not, he insisted, that black women aren't attractive -- especially if they act white.

"Every white dude loved Hilary from 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.' Kerry Washington. She's superhot, and she's also white-girl crazy," he said. "Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she'd be like, 'Yeah, I sucked his d***. Whatever.' And you'd be like, 'What? We weren't talking about that.'"

"Edgy" is Mayer's bread and butter in interviews. Just last week, the singer was quoted by the New York Post as saying, "When I get married that's gonna be my vows, 'Do you, John Mayer, take this woman to have and to hold, to wear her ass like headgear?' Yes, I do -- you're the one whose ass I wanna wear like a hat for the rest of my life."

In an interview with Rolling Stone in January, Mayer introduced his views on the kind of woman he'd settle down with. "You need to have them be able to go toe-to-toe with you intellectually. But don't they also have to have a vagina you could pitch a tent on and just camp out on for, like, a weekend? The Joshua Tree of vaginas? ... I'll be happy when I close out this life-partner thing. Think of how much mental capacity I'm using to meet the right person so I can stop giving a f--- about it."

After musing on whether the Rolling Stone piece might have gone too far, Mayer tweeted, "I say 'f--- it.' You can't go wrong if you tell the truth."

So was the Playboy interview an ambitious attempt-gone-awry by the man who dubbed himself "the new generation of masturbator" to break his own record of irreverence? Or did Mayer, at his most "raw," betray something uglier than we could have suspected in all of his previous "shock jock" interviews?

Comments

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Wednesday 10 February

By fredo

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can someone please tell me what he's ever done anyway. who cares about the interview. he sings crappy cheesey love songs. then, he attempts to cultivate a tough guy image with a bunch of tattoos and fake bad boy image. hes heterosexual liberace. talentless assclown. he's the new michael bolton.

Wednesday 10 February

By jaycee

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HEY JOHN MAYER...TRY USING UR OTHER HAND, IT FEELS LIKE SOMEONE ELSE IS DOING "IT" 2 U!!
HIS FILTY LANGUAGE & SEX TALK CONVINCED ME HE CANNOT HAVE AN INTELLIGENT CONVERSATION-duh? EVERY ARTICLE (INC.ESQUIRE) IS RELATED TO HIS SEX LIFE :0 IT IS KNOWN THAT IF U HAVE TO TO TALK ABOUT IT, UR NOT GETTING ANY! OH BTW JOHN,
YOU'RE NOT ALL THAT TO LOOK AT EITHER--A GOOD MEAL & SHOWER MIGHT KILL U!

Wednesday 10 February

By sally

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John...."shut up and sing"....like some other folks we know should do!....man...rude and crude...shame on you

Wednesday 10 February

By jj

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What a loser. Please go away!

Wednesday 10 February

By Roland

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The mental capacity he's using? I'm amazed at his lack of mental capacity.

Wednesday 10 February

By isthrnhnst1

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The article's heading asked whether John Mayer is a racist or just plain dumb. Isn't that the same thing? And ...YES...John Mayer is a just plain dumb racist.

Wednesday 10 February

By tia

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Why are women attracted to him? He reminds me of a vampire.
I'm going to run over all his cd's.

Thursday 11 February

By Cat

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White men have been using black women, black people every since they where brought to America. You might wanna check your family tree, a lot of the half breeds you will find there, especially back in the day where due to white men raping black women!

Wednesday 10 February

By Brittney

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I still think that Kanye West is the douchebag of the year.

Thursday 11 February

By uja

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Kanye is the douche of 2009. John Mayer is the douche of 2010.

Thursday 11 February

By john

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ms. bytch SELF HATE IS A SHAME..............

Wednesday 10 February

By Della

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John Mayer has got to be the most idiotic, self-absorbed/obsessed moron ever to open his mouth. His pathetic attempts to seem edgy or cool only prove him to be the exact opposite. He is at best a mediocre/derivative musician who is lucky to have a career. He should just shut up.

Wednesday 10 February

By fred

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Your remarks seem to say that it is just fine for a WORTHLESS white man to marry a white woman. I don't think so.

Wednesday 10 February

By Who cares

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As a black woman I am not offended by John Mayer's remarks, who cares if he isn't attracted to black women I don't find most white men that attractive. He sounded like a teenager to me in the interview. John you are 32 years old, please grow up.

Wednesday 10 February

By nocarmar

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Hello, irony! What does this article do to ease racial tensions? NOTHING. What does it do to fan the flames of racism? LOTS. And if you're not sure whether you should be offended by Mayer's remarks, the author was kind enough to supply you with the educated opinion of a race relations professor. You know, in case you didn't know if you should feel offended. Lesson: THINK FOR YOURSELF.

Wednesday 10 February

By hank

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This guy is a loose cannon. In a mentally challenged kind of way. And a misogynast .I see him a few years from now like Phil Spector...in prison for shooting some woman he picked up in a bar and then lying about it. And I thought Eminem was someone to be feared. Mayer is a mental case, with a head and mouth full of trash. Who in their right mind talks like that but someone locked up in prison for a string of heinous crimes. Don't buy his albums, just as you wouldn't buy Charles Manson's poetry and artwork. If I were Jessica Simpson or Aniston, I would run like the wind from the guy.

Wednesday 10 February

By GPUPPY1

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As Bugs Bunny would say..."Whatta maroon! Whatta ignoranimus!"

Thursday 11 February

By Sue

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LOL!! You said it GPUPPY1!!

Wednesday 10 February

By God

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What a total waste of a human being.

Wednesday 10 February

By jj

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John who?my sisters don't like little white ones.who exspected you to like black girls,we know you like Prez Hilton tight a--.Get back to foolin dumb blonds into thinking your straigth girl.lol

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