Following his ill-advised comments in a Playboy magazine interview, in which he used the "N" word, John Mayer has drawn some fire from the hip-hop community.
On Wednesday, Mayer apologized for some of the comments he made in the interview, in which he talked freely about sex, former girlfriends Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson, and — most controversially — made comments about black women and his lack of a " 'hood pass" that many have perceived as racist.
On his Twitter, the Roots' ?uestlove seemed to be in a thoughtfully forgiving mood about the outburst. "Hmmm. I'll give Mayer a benefit of the doubt (remember how people misinterpreted my photo?) and assume that was a punchline gone awry," he tweeted, referring to a photo of an apparently racist lunch menu at the NBC café that ?uest posted as a joke for Black History Month. But the drummer wasn't done with Mayer. He added, "LOL then again on 2nd read ... can't wait to see spin on this. I swear his #1 demographic is the white dude black women would do in a second."
But Talib Kweli rubbed it in a bit, writing on his Twitter page, "My man John Mayer must love the taste of his own foot."
Noreaga wasn't having it, from Mayer or the magazine, re-tweeting a comment that read, "Playboy set his ass up good on black history month!!!!" which followed a much more harshly worded comment from Nore himself: "Dear John Mayer, black women don't like u cause ur a a--hole."
Joell Ortiz tweeted, "John Mayer will get off the hook just like Asher Roth did. Throw money, a lame apology and some good PR at us and we forget. ... John Mayer should not open his mouth unless he is singing."
The flap has clearly taken its toll on the always loose-lipped Mayer, who reportedly broke down onstage Wednesday night during a show in Nashville, according to E! Online. Near the end of the concert, a choked up Mayer reportedly stopped playing and apologized yet again, telling the crowd, "I quit the media game. I'm out. I'm done. I just want to play my guitar."
That apology came after Mayer, 32, had already issued several mea culpas via Twitter Wednesday afternoon, explaining in one, "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."
Many MTV readers were not buying it, with Simone commenting, "I don't think John Mayer is racist, however he is an a--hole." Marwa disagreed, writing, "Damn John Mayer; he is racist."
Michael was more willing to cut the singer some slack. "This was not racist," he wrote. "He has a big mouth and has no filter, that's pretty much it. Black folk, we're being too sensitive here. Hell, all of Americans, we're being too sensitive here."
Some readers said they were seriously offended and would not accept the apology. But some were willing to forgive him. Jhonny said simply, "Sounds sincere, accepted." ChooseCarefully went further, writing, "We've all said things we have regretted. I hope your apology is sincere with your 'Benetton heart' Mr. Mayer. As a beautiful black woman, let me just say, 'It's not our loss.' "
Ironically, this latest flap comes on the heels of a January Rolling Stone cover story, in which the "Daughters" singer made a series of crude comments about women's private parts. And in reference to his notoriously profane, sometimes offensive Twitter habit, he admitted, "I have these accidents, these mistakes, these self-inflicted wounds, and then I tear my head to shreds about it for days." But, after a few days of reflection, he said, he typically decides he can't just be quiet. "I don't want to detach. I don't want to go live in a gated community. So, I will continue to make these worldwide dignity mistakes as often as it takes to not make them anymore."
Taken from MTV.com!
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