“The premise itself is so deeply flawed” — John Mayer responds to ‘intense speculation’ about dating longtime friend Andy Cohen

Rock star John Mayer recently opened up about public perception of his friendship with television presenter Andy Cohen. On Wednesday, May 8, The Hollywood Reporter published a cover story on Cohen, during the interview for which, he was asked about his relationship with John Mayer.

According to the interviewer, their friendship was a subject of "intense speculation." Cohen then promptly confirmed that they were not "sleeping with each other."

The very next day, John Mayer wrote a letter to the publication, saying he was "intrigued" by their line of questioning. Mayer wrote:

"I bristle at your selectively flimsy logic meant to coax an answer, when the premise itself is so deeply flawed, and quite possibly not even quantitatively true."

Andy Cohen and John Mayor are great friends (Image via Instagram/@bravoandy)

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John Mayer critiqued the public perception of a platonic friendship between a straight man and a gay man

When Andy Cohen was interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter in a profile published on May 8, the name of Cohen's close friend and Heartbreak Warfare hitmaker John Mayer popped up on multiple occasions. It first popped up when the interviewer told Cohen that Howard Stern called him "America's Top Gay".

In response, Cohen recalled the time John Mayer indicted him on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and told him that Cohen had "unwittingly" become a gay best friend to many who never had a gay best friend. He recalled how that moved him.

The interviewer told Cohen that his and Mayer's friendship had been the subject of "intense speculation" and even claimed that some thought it was "dubious" of a gay TV personality having a platonic relationship with a straight rockstar. Cohen immediately shut down the speculations. He responded:

"Let them speculate! I honestly love John Mayer, and he loves me. But because we’re so affectionate toward each other, people don’t know what box to put that in. They assume we’re sleeping with each other, which we are most definitely not."

The interview went viral, prompting John Mayer to immediately send out an e-mail to the publication, which was released by them in a May 9 article. In the letter, Mayer addressed the writer by name before stating that he was "intrigued" by the interviewer's line of questioning regarding his and Andy Cohen's friendship.

Firstly, Mayer pointed out that "rockstars" had a history of befriending famous gay personalities. Secondly, he elaborated:

"I think that to suggest that people are dubious of a friendship like mine and Andy’s is to undermine the public’s ability to accept and understand diversity in all facets of culture, be it in art or in real life."

John Mayer stated he'd like to think people were "sophisticated enough" to see a friendship like that of him and Andy Cohen without assuming that it was s*xual. According to Mayer, that turned the concept of being gay " ignorantly two-dimensional", which it was not.

Mayer told the writer that while he loved "intelligent discourse," he bristled at the allegedly "selectively flimsy logic meant to coax an answer." Before concluding his letter, the Slow Dancing in a Burning Room singer added:

"Quite simply, if someone is dubious of a platonic relationship between a straight man and a gay man, I don’t think that shallow a view deserves clarification by anyone with self respect, be it Andy or your publication."

According to Mayer, reinforcing the idea that such relationships needed clarification devoided the people involved in the situation of their dignity.

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Andy Cohen had not responded to Mayer's letter at the time of writing this article.