John Mayer hilariously misunderstood Gal Gadot's ‘Imagine’ and was cut out of video

The singer has now shared the video he sent - which did not make the final cut...
Marissa Desantis25 March 2020

Long before coronavirus prompted late-night talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel to host episodes via Instagram while self-isolating in their homes, John Mayer had already established himself as a seasoned professional.

The 42-year-old created his Sunday evening Instagram Live show, Current Mood, all the way back in 2018, hosting episodes around his touring schedule and the availability of guests like Shawn Mendes and Lil Nas X.

But after a brief hiatus, Mayer brought his Instagram late-night show back, introducing a new series, The Gentle Hours, and starring just him - because that’s how social-distancing works.

And while there may not be any A-list guests, Mayer has still managed to keep the laughs coming.​

Instagram

In the ‘New Light’ singer’s latest episode, he hilariously poked fun at the Gal Gadot-led montage of celebrities singing John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous 1971 single, ‘Imagine.’

While meant to serve as an uplifting message, the video was largely criticized for being tone-deaf as many around the world worried about the effects coronavirus would have on not just their health but their job stability.

Thankfully, for Mayer, he didn’t quite make the cut alongside celebrities like Natalie Portman and Jimmy Fallon.

But it wasn’t because of his singing skills (duh). As Mayer explained on his Current Mood show, it was because he “totally misunderstood the assignment.” And the result was comedic gold.​

“They actually asked me to be a part of this, and I totally misunderstood the assignment and thought they wanted me to sing ‘Imagine’ by Ariana Grande from her 2019 smash-hit album Sweetener,” Mayer began, though he would later correct himself, as it was Grande’s 2019 album, Thank U, Next, that the song appeared on.

Lucky for us, Mayer shared a version with his clips so we could see how the original video might have looked.

Instagram

After Gadot, Kristen Wiig and Jamie Dornan sang their lines, Mayer came in with the comedic relief (or maybe he did misunderstand the assignment, who’s to say really?).

“Me with no makeup / you in the bathtub / bubbles and bubbly,” he sang from the aforementioned Grande song. As the video played on, Mayer continued with his award-worthy rendition of ‘Imagine,’ shrugging after the performance finished and the camera panned back to him on his at-home set.

“Am I sorry? Not even close,” Mayer declared. And honestly, we don’t think he should apologize for improving the original take.

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