John Mayer just can't quit talking about his ex Taylor Swift. This time, though, we'll let him off the hook, for two reasons. One, Ronan Farrow, who interviewed the singer for MSNBC's 7 Days of Genius special, brought Swift up. Two, Mayer actually had some nice things to say about the pop star.
Farrow was asking Mayer about Swift's influence on tech and media when the 37-year-old crooner took the opportunity to praise his former flame. He specifically singled out Swift's stance against Spotify on the grounds that music shouldn't be given away for free.
"Artists need the person with the loudest voice to speak for them," he said, citing the difference between celebrities getting attention for superficial things versus using fame to do some good.
"When you go to the Met Ball, that's great," Mayer explained. "It's a great way to use your voice and go, 'I'm wearing Valentino,' or you could use your voice to give things. Now, some people who are cynical could say, 'You're helping yourself.' But it's trickle down. You're not saying, 'I want this just for me.' I think that's a really cool thing for a musician to do. Like 2% of the music industry has 80% of all the media about it. There's like four people who get all the press, and if any of those four people say, 'I want to speak for those people who would just never make this a story.' The only reason we're talking about Taylor Swift taking Spotify on is because she's Taylor Swift!"
Mayer then got a bit off-course and ended up talking about how doesn't like to talk about his Swift-inspired "Paper Doll" because people should focus on his music and not his love life. But, while he's talking about his music, can he just mention Taylor one last time?
"Look, I can say the name Taylor Swift," he told Farrow. "She's an artist. I'm an artist. Let's just...everybody stop. Nobody's got an incurable cancer. We're rich people who get to live out our dreams. Let's just stop it."
After you, sir.