John Mayer has had enough of the constant questions about his friendship with his close longtime friend, Watch What Happens Live star Andy Cohen.
After a writer asked Andy last week about “intense speculation” surrounding his friendship with the Gravity singer, John penned a response.
John read the interview, then wrote that he was “intrigued by your line of questioning regarding our friendship.” The Grammy-winning singer called the interviewer’s question “a specious [false] premise.”
A “premise [that’s] deeply flawed”
An editor for the Hollywood Reporter posed the subject to Andy. “Your friendship with Mayer has been the subject of intense speculation,” he said. “People seem dubious that a straight rock star can have a close, platonic relationship with a gay TV personality.”
What people? Gay people can’t have friends without there being a sexual element? That’s ridiculous!
“First, there is a long and storied history of ‘rock stars’ … befriending gay icons and artists,” he wrote, as reported by Page Six. “Second, … to suggest that people are dubious of a friendship like mine and Andy’s [undermines] the public’s ability to accept and understand diversity.”
He further pointed out that fans are “sophisticated enough” to see his friendship with Andy “without assuming it must include a sexual component.” Women don’t have to deal with this issue when they have a gay friend. (Except for maybe Kyle Richards. People won’t leave her alone about her relationship with Morgan Wade).
While he loves “intelligent discourse,” the singer called the writer’s “premise … deeply flawed, and … not even quantitatively true.” Whew, John Mayer is deep, y’all!
He added that he doesn’t believe “that shallow a view deserves clarification by anyone with self-respect, be it Andy or your publication.”
“The idea that any gay/straight relationship needs qualification that it’s not sexual devoids everyone involved of their dignity,” he concluded.
The writer doubles down
The author of the original interview says, though he appreciates the singer’s “thoughtful comments,” he “stand[s] by [his original] question.”
“The media has spent years scrutinizing and coyly speculating about Andy’s relationship with John Mayer,” the reporter explains. “I wanted to know why Andy thought that even now, in 2024, there was so much skepticism … that a gay guy and a straight guy can have a close platonic friendship. The fact that this tiny snippet in my 5,000-word interview generated such massive media attention kind of proves my point.”
He adds, “I thought John raised some interesting points about this issue that deserved a hearing. I’m pretty sure my boyfriends can vouch that I’m far from a homophobe, just a journalist doing his job.”
The debate over the nature of John and Andy’s close relationship has gone on for years. In 2023, the Daddy Diaries author told Howard Stern, “I am in love with John Mayer. We are in love with each other.”
At the time, the shock jock asked Andy, “Swear on your children’s lives that there has never been anything sexual between you and John Mayer.”
And Andy promptly responded, “Yes, I do. I swear.”
He also answered the Hollywood Reporter’s question. “I honestly love John Mayer, and he loves me,” he said. “But because we are so affectionate to each other, people don’t know what box to put that in. They assume we are sleeping with each other, which we are most definitely not.”
