John Mayer Uses the 'N-Word' in Playboy Interview, Then Apologizes

Guitarist John Mayer is trying to explain why he used the "n-word" in an interview in Playboy magazine's March issue.

Mayer made his comments during a wide ranging interview that also touched on his relationships with Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson and his fans.

"I come on very strong. I am a very...I'm just very. V-E-R-Y. And if you can't handle very, then I'm a douche bag," he said in interview excerpts published by multiple news outlets. "But I think the world needs a little very. That's why black people love me."

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“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 ni--er pass,” he said in the interview. “Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, 'I can't really have a hood pass. I've never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, 'We're full.'"

The musician also chronicled his sex life, saying he has slept with dozens and dozens of women, but said he had no desire to sleep with black women.

"I don't think I open myself to it. My d--- is sort of like a white supremacist,” Mayer said in the published excerpts. “I've got a Benetton heart and a f-----' David Duke c---. I'm going to start dating separately from my d---."

Mayer's statements unleashed a wave of criticism, and the musician tried to explain himself on his Twitter account.

“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,” Mayer tweeted on Wednesday afternoon. “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.And while I'm using today for looking at myself under harsh light, I think it's time to stop trying to be so raw in interviews... 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. Again, because I don't want anyone to think I'm equivocating: I should have never said the word and I will never say it again.”

Other celebrities have apologized soon after using the "n-word," too. Former "Seinfeld" star Michael Richards called hecklers the word at a comedy club in 2006, and Duane “The Dog” Bounty Hunter used the word while trying to get his son to break-up with his African American girlfriend in 2007. Both issued mea culpa.

What effects Mayer's remarks have on his career remain to be seen.

“It seems he wants press anyway he can get it," said Hollywood image consultant Michael Sands. "John most likely will suffer long-term damage as this starts to hit the Internet worldwide.”
Greg E. Carr, a professor of Africana Studies at Howard University, is urging the public to distance themselves from Mayer. “Keep your record-buying money in your pocket when considering buying content that demeans African people, whoever produces it," he said.

In the same interview, Mayer also revealed private details of his relationship with Jessica Simpson – calling her "sexual napalm.”

A rep for the pop princess declined to comment on the interview, however on Wednesday afternoon Simpson tweeted that it had been an “interesting day so far.”

And despite recent rumors that 32-year-old Mayer has been hooking up with 20-year-old Taylor Swift (and reportedly “bragging” about it), a source told Fox411.com that they were nothing more than friends.