# Oh....you're \*that\* stupid; got it (John Mayer's Playboy interview) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558 "2010-02-11T16:12:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/81 "2010-02-14T08:32:40Z")
Having read the actual interview now, I consider it to be bravely honest and non -douchebaggy. It’s a shame that tabloidy outlets (Soup, I’m looking at you!) thrive on out of context sound bites, because that means the next person is less likely to be open and honest in their interview for fear of being taken out of context. My only two questions: 1. Why did you wear the Borat swimsuit? 2. Why do Jews swim at 92 degrees? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/82 "2010-02-14T14:47:19Z")
\*\*Sampiro \*\*- spot on; this deserves snarky mocking NOT racial outrage, because, as \*\*ZPhobiaZ \*\*has hopefully limned by this point, this is not about racial outrage, this is about being a douchebag to people you claim accept you… and **jackdavinci** , while I hear you, this is about perception, not reality. No different than Senator Harry Reid saying that Obama was electable because he was light-skinned and spoke well. Since that silly kerfuffle, I have not heard one black person say anything but “well, duh” - but it was considered bad form because of the choice of words, in this case “negro” and the fact that there is simply too much baggage to make any attempt in that area likely to succeed. That’s also the point about Mayer - he is supposed to be an example of someone who’s figured out how to be a celebrity in the Twitter Age and yet was tone-deaf in this example… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/83 "2010-02-14T16:19:00Z")
If I were Kerry Washington I might well feel that Mayer had – or had at least tried to – damage my reputation by describing me as some sort of psycho slut. His repeated description of her as being “like a white girl” was also pretty creepy: > [@John Mayer](#): > > And Kerry Washington. She’s superhot, 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.” And you’d be like, “What? We weren’t talking about that.” What did this woman ever do to John Mayer? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/84 "2010-02-14T22:35:16Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’m embarrassed that he’s from Connecticut. (New Jersey has Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra, and we have Michael Bolton and this clown.) He’s from near where I grew up. I’ve actually seen his high school where I know for a fact he did not “bust down the double doors” at his ten-year reunion. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/85 "2010-02-14T23:15:19Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Thanks for that, the thread was pretty much what I’d have expected. > > To clarify, I think it’s sort of reasonable to say something like “black women generally don’t appeal to me much, but there are exceptions” but it’s _not_ reasonable to make sweeping statements like “black women don’t appeal to me”. > > I don’t see how anyone can make the second statement there and _not_ be racist. I admit that I struggle mightily with my own racial issues, probably bordering on racism. But of all the things that may make me racist, the fact that I am not attracted to white men doesn’t factor in. I don’t find white skin attractive. That makes me racist?? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/86 "2010-02-14T23:58:12Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I admit that I struggle mightily with my own racial issues, probably bordering on racism. But of all the things that may make me racist, the fact that I am not attracted to white men doesn’t factor in. > > I don’t find white skin attractive. That makes me racist?? I think it’s less racism than the fact you haven’t seen [my pictures](http://www.nouilles.info/sdpix/24999.html). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/87 "2010-02-14T23:59:40Z")
I didn’t think it was racist necessarily–it was more…just obnoxious. Like, okay, you’re talking about race in a way designed to be provocative. But really, why should I care what he’s attracted to, John Mayer–it makes not a whit of difference either way. Just the whole assumption that what he’s saying is absolutely very important kind of makes me eye roll. Kind of like when Perez Hilton couldn’t just call the cops for his assault but had to tweet it to everyone. It just makes me want to scream, GET OVER YOURSELF, GUY! Accompanied by a Moonstruck slap. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/88 "2010-02-15T00:28:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I think it’s less racism than the fact you haven’t seen [my pictures](http://www.nouilles.info/sdpix/24999.html). I make exceptions for _gay_ white men. I’m all over that. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/89 "2010-02-15T00:35:51Z")
Well, I can say something definitively. This is the only time I’ve ever been remotely interested in anything to do with John Mayer. When I heard about the Playboy interview, my first thought was, ‘‘_This_ is John Mayer? Then why is his music so ridiculous and boring?’’ If he’s going to be all controversial, he should be controversial as an _artist_. As it is, he just reminds me of those guys in college who would practice their guitars with an open door in hopes of getting laid. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/90 "2010-02-15T01:50:51Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t really see anything offensive… Same here. I’m not much interested in reading that much self-analysis, but he seems pretty self-aware and candid. ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/91 "2010-02-15T02:19:11Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > \*I have a fag pass, so it’s totally cool that I use this word. [QUOTE=John Meyer, discussing his kiss of Perez Hilton] “I grabbed him and gave him the dirtiest, tongue-iest kiss I have ever put on anybody—almost as if I hated fags.” [/QUOTE] Apparently, Meyer thinks he has one of those too. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/92 "2010-02-15T02:28:11Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I admit that I struggle mightily with my own racial issues, probably bordering on racism. But of all the things that may make me racist, the fact that I am not attracted to white men doesn’t factor in. > > I don’t find white skin attractive. That makes me racist?? In my opinion, yes. It sounds to me like you’re pre-judging people you haven’t met based on skin colour, how is that _not_ racist? I’m not trying to start an argument here, and I’m asking because I’m interested in your answer. I think it’s good if people can discuss this sort of thing rationally and not get all shouty about it. The only skin colour I find unattractive is deeply tanned white people, who, in my opinion, are unfailingly hideous to behold. White people look good white, they look terrible when they try to be dark-skinned. I’m not claiming to be 100% free of racism myself, I don’t think _anybody_ is _entirely_ free of prejudice. But to me, making judgements based on someone’s “type” rather than treating each person as a unique individual is the definition of racism, and it’s something we should consciously try to avoid. I’m not saying you (or anyone else) shouldn’t have particular tastes, but - as I said - there’s a big difference between saying “I don’t tend to be attracted to white men” and saying “I’m never attracted to white men”. The first says something about tastes, the second seems to me to be based on prejudice. With race, there are some that _in general_ appeal to me more than others, but I’d never exclude anyone based on that alone. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/93 "2010-02-15T05:56:17Z")
I’m not attracted to men, but that doesn’t make me a misandrist. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/94 "2010-02-15T06:40:55Z")
> [@Anduinel](#): > > Apparently, Meyer thinks he has one of those too. Did you see the Borat swimsuit pics? He does. (A great boo-tay covers a lot of sins.) ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/95 "2010-02-15T07:13:49Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I’m not attracted to men, but that doesn’t make me a misandrist. There are plenty of things that I’m not attracted to, but race has nothing to do with it. I think that for people who do find race to be a deal-breaker in attractiveness, it’s about prejudice, not taste. I mean, _maybe_ the guy with the foot fetish has an excuse, but very few of us are anywhere near that specific. Unless you’ve met every single member of an entire race, and judged them all individually on your personal attraction to them, I think that a blanket statement like “I’m not attracted to X race” is a sign of prejudice, not personal taste. If you’re not allowing for the possibility of exceptions to the rule, then you’re pre-judging people, not treating them as unique individuals. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/96 "2010-02-15T15:25:02Z")
Everyone has to be so “edgey”. What’s next? Jack Johnson getting arrested for raping Jason Mraz? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/97 "2010-02-15T15:33:12Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Did you see the Borat swimsuit pics? He does. (A great boo-tay covers a lot of sins.) OK, I looked up those photos (before work of course). Was he wearing that swimsuit as a joke? Who could possibly think that thing looks good? On the other hand, it wasn’t made up for the Borat movie. Someone manufactures and sells that thing, so there must be an audience for it. But I can’t imagine who’s buying and wearing it. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/98 "2010-02-15T17:18:45Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > There are plenty of things that I’m not attracted to, but race has nothing to do with it. I think that for people who do find race to be a deal-breaker in attractiveness, it’s about prejudice, not taste. I mean, _maybe_ the guy with the foot fetish has an excuse, but very few of us are anywhere near that specific. > > Unless you’ve met every single member of an entire race, and judged them all individually on your personal attraction to them, I think that a blanket statement like “I’m not attracted to X race” is a sign of prejudice, not personal taste. If you’re not allowing for the possibility of exceptions to the rule, then you’re pre-judging people, not treating them as unique individuals. How is it \*pre-\*judging? I know that white skin is not attractive to me. I have seen white skin before. I have seen people that are so striking in their other features or style, that I have been able to overlook the skin color (Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe are actually the only ones that I can think of) but I really don’t find the look of white skin attractive. White people that are not attracted to black people should be able to express that without being called racist. There are people out there that think black people are inferior, lazy and dumb, should be denied certain rights or priviledges, and are all of these things due to the color of their skin. Let’s leave the word ‘racist’ for them. ETA: I am using ‘attractive’ to mean, I would be attracted to them. Not saying that I find white skin ugly at all. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/99 "2010-02-15T19:11:27Z")
I have no problem with people having racial preferences, but I do find it glaring when someone announces a preference (or non-preference, to more precise) that is so sweeping and generalized that it suggests a bias that goes beyond appearance. And maybe it’s just me, but usually such declarations seem to be coming from an arrogant place. It’s like, it’s cool and all that you aren’t into black chicks, dude, but you’re oversharing. Your opinion about your dick’s preferences aren’t really interesting enough to declare to the entertainment community, especially in the manner that you did (the Kerri Washington comment pings my misogyny radar more than anything else…seems to me he thinks attractive women [AKA white women] are by default promiscuous, dick-sucking sluts), but way to go out of your way to alienate women who otherwise might have fantasized about your grungy ass. Being honest does not mean being tactless, y’know? There is so much diversity in the “black woman” genre that anyone who could claim not to be attracted to them, en masse, makes me question the classification schemes they are working with. You can find black women in every shade, size, and type. Unless someone is saying they’d really kick [Paula Patton](http://kickingthorn.com/v-web/gallery/albums/album71/paula_patton_unleashed_4.jpg), [Naomi Campbell](http://www.global14.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/naomi-campbell-1024x768-60kb-media-308-media-129555-1200155703.jpg), [Toni Braxton](http://10thlife.com/wp-content/uploads/toni-braxton.jpg), or [Erykah Badu](http://nakedsides.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/erykahbadu.jpg) out of bed, then their claims aren’t solid enough to broadcast, and I think it’s reasonable to question why anyone would feel it is necessary to do so. And if someone _is_ saying that their preference is so strong that they would kick these women out of bed? Well, there’s nothing wrong with being gay. I feel the same way about white men, too. It’s easy to say “I don’t like white skin” or “Pink penises turn me off”, but unless you’re telling me that you’d just walk away if George Clooney, Johnny Dep, or Clive Owen were trying to hit on you in the grocery store, then I don’t give these kinds of claims much weight. There is more to being attracted to someone than preconceived notions of what makes people attractive, if that makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558/100 "2010-02-15T19:42:41Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Iunless you’re telling me that you’d just walk away if George Clooney, Johnny Dep, or Clive Owen were trying to hit on you in the grocery store, then I don’t give these kinds of claims much weight. Go ahead and give my ‘claims’ as much weight as you like, then, because none of them do ANYTHING for me. Not even close. Nothing. I am quite certain that they would never find anything in me to compell them to hit on me in the first place, but I do assure you the feeling is mutual. For that matter, before I started working with a bunch of thirty something techs, I never had a single white man hit on me at all. I don’t find white skin attractive. Perhaps I have a ‘fetish’ for melanin. I completely believe anyone that says they have no attraction to black women. I have no clue how this can be percieved as racist, but I just shake my head at people doubting people’s ‘claims’ about what does or doesn’t turn them on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-youre-that-stupid-got-it-john-mayers-playboy-interview/528558.md?page=6)