John Mayer appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast with Alexandra Cooper on Wednesday to set the record straight about his reputation for being a womanizer, which Mayer says is an unfair label.
Mayer spoke about the narrative that has emerged about his dating life and pushed back against what many have described as his “playboy” ways. The musician made it clear that he’s aware of how he’s perceived, but that his reputation doesn’t reflect what he’s really like, nor is he certain how that reputation came about.
“I think, look, the elephant in the room is that I’m on a show that caters to women, and I have a couple of name plates on me, like ‘Lothario’ and ‘womanizer,’ and I think that is what that is,” Mayer told Cooper.
The star has been linked to Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry and Jennifer Love Hewitt, as well as Jessica Simpson and other leading ladies.
“I think people would be surprised to know that it was less me going like, you know the meme of the guy behind the tree? It was less this” — Mayer rubbed his hands together in a conniving way — “and more like this,” he said, looking around the room as though confused. “Me? Because it was always set forth to me that like, that shouldn’t happen,” he said.(RELATED: ‘I Don’t Need To Hide Behind The Clothes’: Shania Twain Poses Nude At Age 57)
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Mayer also spoke about his sobriety and admitted that since he stopped drinking, he almost mostly stopped dating.
“Dating is no longer a codified activity for me, it doesn’t exist in a kind of … it’s not patterned anymore,” he said. “I quit drinking like six years ago, so I don’t have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage.”
As for his image as a womanizer, Mayer has accepted that there’s no getting rid of it. “That is what that is,” he said. “That’s the role I play on the big TV show I didn’t write, but that’s fine.”
“Maybe I had a hand in it or something,” he added.