JOHN MAYER: GRAMMY WINNER APOLOGIZING FOR RACIALLY-CHARGED COMMENTS
by Bridget Bland, February 11, 2010
John Mayer probably never imagined that when he woke up on Feb. 10, his interview with Playboy magazine would be the biggest news of the day.The ‘Waiting for the World to Change’ singer, who has famously worked with African American singers such as Alicia Keys, Common, Kanye West and B.B. King, has been criticized over a few comments that have been interpreted as racially charged.
After declaring “black people love me,” he tried to discuss whether or not he had a “hood pass.”
“If you really had a hood pass, you could call it a n***er pass,” he said.
Mayer followed that up with a discussion about how he doesn’t open himself up to black women throwing themselves at him (“My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a f****** David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.”) before name-dropping some of the black women he finds attractive (“I always thought Holly Robinson Peete was gorgeous. Every white dude loved Hilary (Karyn Parsons) from ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.'”
And then the Columbia Records recording artist had choice words about movie actress Kerry Washington, who’s making her debut on Broadway in David Mamet’s new play ‘Race.’
“She’s super hot, and she’s also white-girl crazy. Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she’d be like, “Yeah, I sucked his dick. Whatever.'”
After links and clips of the full interview circulated on the Internet, the Georgia-born singer went to Twitter to express his regret for only one of the comments.
“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.”
That didn’t help matters where several rappers were concerned.
Rapper Talib Kweli wrote, “My man John Mayer must love the taste of his own foot,” while Noreaga addressed him personally by saying, “Dear John Mayer, black women don’t like you ’cause you’re an asshole.”
The Roots drummer Questlove was the nicest, writing, “Hmmm. I’ll give Mayer a benefit of the doubt (remember how people misinterpreted my photo?) and assume that was a punchline gone awry.”
The 32-year-old Grammy Award winner (pictured with Rihanna at a recent industry event) was still remorseful and broke into tears reflecting on the day’s events at his Sommet Center concert in Nashville, Tenn., last night.
“In a quest to be clever, I completely forgot about the people I love and the people that love me,” he said. “That feels absolutely terrible.”
“I quit the media game. I’m out. I’m done,” he declared before acknowledging his band members, most of whom are black. Mayer closed by saying he wants to just play his guitar and that he’s “going to figure it out.”
In the March 2010 issue of Playboy magazine, John Mayer used the “n-word,” talked about having a “hood pass,” and made some racially charged remarks about his penis and black women. Say what? Black Voices takes a look at John Mayer’s black celebrity associations.
“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.”
(“My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a f****** David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.”)
“She’s super hot, and she’s also white-girl crazy. Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she’d be like, “Yeah, I sucked his dick. Whatever.'”
“The 32-year-old Grammy Award winner (pictured with Rihanna at a recent industry event) was still remorseful and broke into tears reflecting on the day’s events at his Sommet Center concert in Nashville, Tenn., last night.”
Ann
You’re absolutely right–no one blinked twice and his racist/sexist remarks about black women. I’ve never liked John Mayer and don’t care for his music.
The lack of outrage regarding his statements just show how people truly feel about black women.
MODERATOR: Thanks for your comments. The Mayer incident reminds me of Michael Richards psychological meltdown at a club when he threatened some Black male audience members with death by lynching and a fork up their rectum as well as called them niggers. More people were angered over the word nigger than they were over the threats of lynching.
What gets me is that those White celebs like him borrow from Blacks and disrespect the people who created the culture and art. Mayer comes from a long line of Whites who appropriate Black culture at the same time disrespect the people, esp. women, i.e., Justin Wimperlake, Enema(Eminem), Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, etc.
I was never interested in John Mayer’s works but his views on Blacks reveals more about his racism than anything else.
La Reyna
LOL! And I thought I was the only person who called him Enema 🙂
Ann,
Enema is really a sick man. Already he had a record of disrespecting Black women, women in general, and gays in his music. His dis toward Mariah Carey caused her husband to issue a statement to the press, saying that Enema has a record of disrespect toward Black women.
As for Justin Wimperlake, he fetishizes Black women and gets away with it, especially with his Ciara video, Love, Sex, and Magic and of course, Janet Jackson superbowl fiasco. He never publicly dates Black women. All his long-term girlfriends have been non-Black. And yet, he uses Black women like toys and that I don’t like.
It’s more than the John Mayer situation. It’s people like Enema, Wimperlake, Jagger and the like who borrow from Black culture while dissing or fetishizing Black women.
La Reyna