Whom can you believe these days if you can’t believe the Huffington Post? I read a story on Huffington yesterday that Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer may be back together, an innuendo made based on something Mayer had supposedly said during one of his concerts.
I don’t report rumors because at least half of the time, the rumors are dead wrong. Or simply made up to gain readership. But this was HUFFINGTON POST! They stand a foot or so above the tabloids. So, I thought for a second about covering this story as well, yet, my gut immediately screamed, “No!” And it looks like I made the right call or I too would have rightfully had John Mayer wishing death upon me as he is doing upon Huffington.
The Huffington Post article in question was titled: “Are John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston Back On?” The article asked this question based on a quote it attributed to Mayer, which Mayer supposedly made to a crowd of 18,000 at his concert on Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. Mayer supposedly said: “I believe in second chances! You might have been a pain in the ass the last time around, but you can still start over again from home base. Next time you get a text from the one you love just text back ‘come over’ – no matter what happened in the past. If you really love someone, just tell them and be with them.”
Upon reading this article on Huffington, Mayer fired 20 rounds of hate at the online publication through his blog saying:
“Ahh, Huffington Post, the internet Death Star…Huffington Post, this is reporting? How do you pay your writers now, in Silly Bandz? Do you meet your sources in a malt shoppe? This is equal parts fabricated, cobbled together and misleading. Let’s break it down: I don’t think I ever said “I believe in second chances!” but I can’t be 100 percent sure, as it’s possible I could have accidentally said something succinctly and to the point. The next sentence is from the song “Half of My Heart,” in reference to the idea that meeting new people allows for hiding old mistakes. (Well, for most people at least.) The sentence about texting comes from the show’s encore, “Edge of Desire,” in a moment of giving people permission not to beat themselves down for still wanting someone. Two sentences about different things at different points in a concert.The reason I’m calling you out instead of all the other magazines that make stories up out of thin air is that In Touch and Star Magazine aren’t concurrently writing pieces about Pat Tillman or WikiLeaks. Mayer continued: “Those other rags know who they are, and even if they’re obnoxious, I’d rather have to live with them because they (and the rest of the world) know where they stand, which doesn’t make them one tenth as dangerous as you are.”
After Mayer posted his blog bashing Huffington, Huffington made an “update” to its original article, explaining that it had improperly “attributed” the quote to Mayer and insinuates any misquotes to other sources. Huffington’s update read in part: “The first quote mentioned in the original post was not initially attributed as it should have been. The quote came from Express via Ryan Seacrest’s radio show.”
What? It’s Seacrest’s fault now?
Not only did Huffington Post apparently get this story wrong and blamed others for the inaccurate reporting, Huffington also had the audacity to further write: “[Mayer] does not deny that he and Aniston are dating.”
Wow. I think I am going to stick with reading only my own articles from now on. And John: If you ever want to set the record straight, CelebMagnet would love to write the real story for you. Just give me a ring.
