John Mayer Apologizes For Using "N-Word" in "Raw" Interview

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John Mayer did some damage control on his Twitter last night, apologizing for controversial statements he made in a "raw" interview with Playboy. (Warning: NSFW, it is Playboy.) In the interview, Mayer talked candidly about his relationship with Jessica Simpson (equating their sex life to "crack cocaine" and "sexual napalm"), why he doesn't date black women ("My dick is sort of like a white supremacist") and his make out session with Perez Hilton ("I grabbed him and gave him the dirtiest, tongue-iest kiss I have ever put on anybody"). But the biggest uproar came when Mayer told Playboy, "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 nigger pass."

John Mayer uncensored: the guitarist's most outrageous moments.

It was that last statement and its fallout that had Mayer backpedaling. "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," Mayer tweeted. He added, "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 also apologized during his concert last night in Nashville, which is available on Ustream.

Look back at more rock-star meltdowns and blowups.

When asked on Twitter whether he'll go to rehab, Mayer joked, "They don't make rehab centers for being an a-hole." The Playboy interview comes just weeks after Mayer opened up to Rolling Stone about many personal topics, including Jennifer Aniston, masturbation, his own harsh critique of his latest album and his search for "the Joshua Tree of vaginas." Check out more from Mayer's candid RS interview:

• John Mayer's Dirty Mind & Lonely Heart: New Issue of Rolling Stone
• John Mayer in His Own Words: Bonus Q&A From Our Cover Story
• Rolling Stone Cover Shoot: John Mayer

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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