John Mayer's Instagram followers received quite a shock yesterday when the singer posted a bizarre photo of himself hanging out with good friend Ricky Van Veen.
Full disclosure: I am one of the nearly one million people who follow Mayer on the photo sharing app (hey, don't judge), and I was taken aback when I saw the photo in question on my feed as well. Why, you ask? Because the photo Mayer posted was the most heavily filtered, airbrushed photo I've ever seen of a celebrity Instagram — Kim Kardashian included.
My initial reaction was that Mayer was simply trolling his followers. The singer has always had a sense of humor when it comes to his own fame, and considering Van Veen co-founded the comedy site CollegeHumor, the two pals were likely just goofing around.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
However, according to Just Jared, some of Mayer's followers were convinced that the singer was trying to make a larger statement about celebrities who try to perpetuate a physical ideal by photoshopping their Instagrams. (Everyone from Beyoncé to Britney has been accused of altering their photos at one point or another.)
Mayer's comment on the photo, which read: "So good to see my friend Ricky again. It’s been a while,” failed to mention whether or not he was trying to make a grand statement, but the discourse about whether or not celebrities should be more honest with their posts has officially been cracked open. Even if it took the creepiest photo of the year to do it.
Click through to see John Mayer like you've never seen him before. (Just Jared)