Just heard him interviewed on NPR and they talked about his “sexually explicit and racially insensitive” statements in Playboy and Rolling Stone interviews. They never said what it actually was and so, of course, now I want to know.
I’m not a fan and couldn’t name one of his songs or tell you anything about him except that he dated Jennifer Anniston.
He said Jessica Simpson was Sexual Crack Cocaine and that he has a Hood Pass because black people love him.
Thanks!
No, the line I remember causing all the brouhaha was the following:
“I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock.”
It was way worse than saying he had a “Hood Pass”. We had a thread on the subject after the Playboy interview came out: Oh....you're *that* stupid; got it (John Mayer's Playboy interview) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
Mayer got some heat for using “the N-word” in the interview, but IMHO in context this was nowhere near the stupidest or most offensive thing he said. When Playboy followed up on his comments about how black people loved him by asking if black women were attracted to him, Mayer chose a less-than-sensitive way to express that he wasn’t attracted to black women…then went off into a bizarrely detailed rant/fantasy about how African-American actress Kerry Washington was hot but also “white-girl crazy” and probably a slut.
I understand the David Duke part, but I don’t know what (who?) Benetton is so I don’t understand what he’s getting at. His dick is racist. His heart is…?
Benetton is a clothing store with an ad campaign “The United Colors of Benetton.” The ads usually had about 12 to 15 models of just about every ethnicity on the planet.
United Colors of Benetton is a clothing company whose ads were all about racial/cultural inclusion.
I assume it was a reference to the clothing brand, which uses models of different races in its ads and has had some fairly well-known ads that suggested interracial romance, like people of different races kissing, a white woman and black man with an Asian baby, a white hand and a black hand making a heart shape together, and even a white horse and black horse having sex. (No, really.)
Benetton makes overpriced clothing, but were very famous for their marketing. Their tagline was “The United Colors of Benetton” and featured people of all races, which I believe was unusual in the 80s. The 80’s was also the last time I ever saw an ad for them (in the US)…
Nowadays they advertise themselves as being “against hate.”
I’m annoyed that New Jersey produced Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen, while Connecticut produced this ass clown and Michael Bolton.
The gist of his NPR interview was that he’s taken some time to do some self examination and hopes to be a better person in the future. Hope it works out for him.
He can play the shit out of a guitar and sing OK. He should stick with that.
Exactly. Shut up an’ play yer guitar.
The Cracked interview was a bit TMI as well…
So basically just like almost every ad on TV today?
His published remarks seemed to be from the time when he was dabbling in stand up comedy. He was hanging out at the Comedy Cellar in NYC and doing some sets. He didn’t seem to realize that those comics could get away with insensitive comments because of the atmosphere of a comedy club and because they were funny.
And George W. Bush. Don’t forget him!
Believe me, I try to forget him.
You think there might be some correlation? 
Of course there’s a correlation. From Mount Olympus the gods looked down on New Jersey with pity and gave them Sinatra and Springsteen. Meanwhile in Asgard, Loki looked down on Connecticut and stuck us with Bolton and Mayer.