What John Mayer Said About Womanizer Past on 'Call Her Daddy'—'Red Flag'

John Mayer has addressed his reputation for being something of a Hollywood lothario in the latest episode of the popular podcast Call Her Daddy.

The "Bigger Than My Body" singer, 44, was a tabloid fixture several years ago as a result of his relationships with a string of fellow celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Speaking with Call Her Daddy host Alexandra Cooper, Mayer said he has taken a far more relaxed approach to his romantic life. "Dating is no longer a codified activity for me. It's not patterned anymore."

He continued: "I quit drinking like six years ago. So I don't have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage." Without leaning on alcohol, "you have to be honest. You have to be really, glaringly honest."

As for being labeled a womanizer, Mayer said: "That's the role I play on the big TV show I didn't write, but that's fine. Maybe I had a hand in it or something."

The singer-songwriter went on to say that he was "made to believe" from a young age that romantic interest was "pretty much an accident," so he learned to "capitalize" on it.

"I think people would be surprised to know that it was less me going like, you know, the meme of the guy behind the tree?" Mayer said. "It was...more like [looking around surprised]: 'Me?'"

While his previous relationships may not have gone on very long, Mayer told Cooper that he has always approached romance with longevity in mind.

"Every relationship that I have ever been in was devoted to the idea that this could go the distance," he said. "My entire life, today included, if you told me that I could have a great two months with someone but it would end on the first day of the third month, I would not be interested.

"I've always sought potential for [a] long-term relationship," he continued. "I know what my mistakes were, looking back, not worth talking about. As long as you're aware of what those things are and how you can apply that to the next relationship, I don't see a problem with any past relationships ending badly."

Mayer, who said in the interview that his hit song "Your Body Is a Wonderland" was about his high school girlfriend, became the target of criticism when clips of the interview were analyzed on TikTok.

"He is a walking red flag omg," wrote one, while another said, "He's a great musician but not a great person. I don't like the way he talks about women he's been with or a comment he made about Black women."

Another commented: "Imagine booking him for an interview and not even having the courage to ask him about what Jessica Simpson wrote in her book."

Simpson and Mayer dated from 2006 to 2007, according to HuffPost. In 2010, Mayer shared intimate details of their relationship with Playboy.

"That girl is like crack cocaine to me," Mayer said at the time. "Sexually, it was crazy. That's all I'll say. It was like napalm, sexual napalm. Did you ever say, 'I want to quit my life and just...snort you?'"

The interview was controversial, to say the least, and prompted a backlash against Mayer—not just for his remarks about Simpson but also for several racially charged comments about Black women.

Shortly after the Playboy piece was published, Simpson told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that Mayer apologized to her but she didn't accept it. "I don't resent him," she said. "I'm just going to let that go. That part of my life is over."

In Simpson's 2020 memoir, Open Book, she wrote that she felt very insecure during her relationship with Mayer. "I constantly worried that I wasn't smart enough for him," Simpson wrote. "He was so clever and treated conversation like a friendly competition that he had to win."

The singer also noted that these feelings led to her drinking more. "My anxiety would spike and I would pour another drink," she wrote in the book. "It was the start of me relying on alcohol to mask my nerves."

Mayer has also faced scrutiny for his past relationship with Swift—specifically that they were together when she was 19 and he was in his early 30s.

The two dated briefly in late 2009 and early 2010. After their breakup, Swift is widely believed to have written the 2010 song "Dear John" about their time together.

"Dear John, I see it all now that you're gone," the chorus of the song goes. "Don't you think I was too young to be messed with? The girl in the dress cried the whole way home. I should've known."

In 2012, Mayer told Rolling Stone that he was "really humiliated" by the song and said it made him feel terrible. "I'm pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that," he said. "It was a really lousy thing for her to do."

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