John Mayer has apologised and broken down on stage over controversial comments he made comparing ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson to "sexual napalm" and using the racially-charged 'n' word several times.
The repentant 32-year-old musician reportedly interrupted a live set in Nashville last night to apologise for his explosive comments, published in an interview with Playboy magazine this week.
"In the quest to be clever, I completely forgot about the people that I love and the people that love me," he reportedly told his audience during the gig.
During the Playboy interview, Mayer talked of his lack of attraction to black women and bragged about "why black people love me".
Speaking in front of his bandmates, some of whom are African-American, Mayer said he had gone into "a wormhole of selfishness and greed and arrogance" and was thinking only of pulling together "as many fast words and phrases as I could".
"I think it's important that you know that everybody on this stage is here playing with me, not because they condone what I say in any given interview," he was quoted by US Magazine as saying.
"They're on this stage because they support [me] as a possible future grown-up."
As his audience roared their approval, Mayer reportedly became visibly emotional on stage and vowed to change his ways.
"It's just not worth being clever," he said. "I just can't. I quit the sound-bite game. I quit the media game. I'm out. I'm done. I just want to play my guitar to whoever is around."
The on-stage admission came after Mayer repeatedly posted apologies on Twitter yesterday.
"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," Mayer tweeted.
Meanwhile, Simpson — who Mayer said was "crazy" in bed and "like crack cocaine to me " — appeared unconcerned about the comments, gossip website TMZ reports.
When asked by TMZ about the interview, the pop singer smiled and laughed before issuing a firm "no comment".
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