John Mayer Confesses He Feels a 'Coldness' From 'SNL' Performers: 'I Show Up Open'
Jan. 31 2024, Published 2:39 p.m. ET
John Mayer revealed some people who work at Saturday Night Live don't seem to love his vibe.
"Why do you think it is that there's a great, that the largest community of people who have hurt my feelings at parties over the years have been related to SNL?" the singer asked Conan O'Brien during his podcast, "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend."
"What is it about the SNL experience, and I'm being very open-minded about it because it can't be this sort of ad hoc thing where everyone at SNL is just a little pathological. What goes on at SNL? Is that the fraternity that when you do see someone from SNL at a party, first of all, do you know what I'm talking about?" Mayer continued.
The "Daughters" crooner, 46, didn't share exact details about some of these incidents, but he did admit he was talking about performers and not writers at the comedy show.
"It feels like a coldness because I'm open, I show up open and I show up with the weird expectation other people are gonna meet me there and there is this sort of pull away," Mayer elaborated. "This sort of, it's almost like someone on SNL has a difficult time pretending to be interested if they're not. Does that check out?"
O'Brien, who is a former SNL writer, tried to be neutral as he likely didn't want to hurt his former coworkers.
"Part of the problem is maybe you putting other people on a pedestal. That's where I've been sometimes hurt before. There is a thing which is, there's a too cool for school philosophy that can thrive at SNL. I've known obviously wonderful, great people there, but it is not, one of the things I think that makes SNL actually really good or has helped it endure all these years," O'Brien said.
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"You're competing with other people in the room. Now that's just the way the show is set up and I saw a lot of lovely collaboration when I was there and you can also see a very, you know, competitive, someone giving you, putting their shoulder into yours like it's hockey and you think, 'Jesus, what's this?'" O'Brien added.
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In his mind, Mayer thinks he might represent "something kind of anti-comedy because I'm the tall musician guy or something."
The musician appeared on SNL as a musical guest in 2003, and he made a cameo in September 2012.