John Mayer on why Miley left Twitter

Like the rest of America, John Mayer wept when Miley Cyrus decided to leave the Twitter-verse last week. Unlike the rest of America ¡ª or, say, the 99.8 percent that isn¡¯t famous ¡ª he could sort of understand why she did it.

¡°I think she¡¯s smart enough to realize there is some interference of the brain that she doesn¡¯t want to deal with. Artists have enough to deal with,¡± Mayer told MTV News. ¡°She¡¯s a child, she¡¯s a fantastic artist ¡ª I think there¡¯s enough mental real estate being taken up by dealing with all of that stuff. ¡­ For whatever reason, I am old enough and smart enough to tell someone to go f¡ª themselves if they tell me to go f¡ª myself. I think if you¡¯re in Miley¡¯s situation, it might take a little too much time to play goalie for your own heart and mind. So I totally get it.¡±

Mayer, a Twitter titan in his own right, said that he shared Cyrus¡¯s frustrations with the site and the nascent negativity it breeds. But, as he¡¯s quick to point out, that¡¯s just the nature of the era in which we live ¡ª an era he skewers in ¡°Who Says,¡± the first single from his upcoming Battle Studies album (due November 17) and one he¡¯s dubbed ¡°The Hate-rix.¡±

¡°I call it that because it¡¯s not really happening. It¡¯s just this fake world of people criticizing other people,¡± he laughed. ¡°It¡¯s a shame, but look, that¡¯s what it comes down to in America. Miley is somebody who¡¯s made a bunch of money doing something she loves. Most people do things they hate, for less money. If somebody can repurpose something that somebody loves doing for a lot of money, in order to make a little bit of that money, they¡¯re gonna do it.

¡°So nobody hates Miley Cyrus; they¡¯re just picking up on her brand, repurposing it, to try to make a little bit of Miley cash,¡± he continued. ¡°It¡¯s damaging people¡¯s minds. Imagine Shannon Doherty with a Twitter account, back in the ¡®90210¡ä days. That would¡¯ve just flat-out killed her.¡±

So, in the interest of self-preservation, does Mayer see himself following in Miley¡¯s footsteps and jettisoning his Twitter account? In one word: no.

¡°I would rather tell the world to eat my a¨Chole before I would delete my Twitter account,¡± he laughed.