Andy Cohen: It was John Mayers idea to phone in for New Years from the cat cafe
One of the funnier bits during CNN’s 2023 New Year’s Eve special was John Mayer appearing in a cat café in Tokyo. It could have been lame. I mean, the premise was funny and the scene was set, but that kind of bit takes some charisma and humor to pull off. For example, Martin Short and Steve Martin riffing about New Years in a cat café would automatically be funny. Kevin Costner, not so much. Luckily for Mayer, hosts Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, and all of us watching at home, all it took was Anderson’s uncontrollable giggling at the entire scenario to make it entertaining and go viral. According to Cohen, Mayer was originally supposed to do his guest spot in his hotel room, but came up with the idea to do it in a cat café instead.
Andy Cohen is giving credit where it’s due when it comes to that viral cat café moment with pal John Mayer on New Year’s Eve.
“He was going to be joining us from Tokyo and I said, ‘Look, we will set you up in your hotel.’ And he said, ‘I’d love to go somewhere more fun, like a cat café.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, well lemme see if we can find one,’” Cohen, 55, exclusively tells Us Weekly on Tuesday, January 9, while promoting Walmart’s “Save Your Resolutions” campaign.
Once CNN found a café for Mayer to phone in from, Cohen says he gave Anderson Cooper a heads up about the hilarious location ahead of their CNN New Year’s Eve Live special.
“I told Anderson a few times, ‘Hey, John’s going to be at a cat cafe,’ but I think he tunes me out sometimes, so I think that’s why it was immediately so funny to him,” Cohen recalls. “And also the cats’ butts were in John’s face the whole time. I think just that visual was so funny.”
The internet went into a frenzy when Cooper, 56, erupted into a fit of giggles as Mayer, 46, joined the special from inside a cat café and was surrounded by felines — some of which had their butts in Mayer’s face.
“This doesn’t look sanitary, John,” Cohen said during the broadcast, while Cooper exclaimed, “John, there’s cats everywhere.”
Mayer appeared not to be fazed by their alarming reactions, replying, “I believe it passes all health codes. I think it’s just fine.”
He continued, “There are cats. Yeah. This is a place you can come, enjoy a drink or two and talk to cats. It’s a cat bar. I don’t know how much more clear I can be about this objective of this place.”
I had to rewatch the segment to even remember what they were talking about because all I could think about was Anderson losing his everloving mind over the cats. His reaction was the thing that made the segment work, and Mayer did well playing it off as the comedic straight man unbothered by a cat’s butt in his face. It *was* a funny visual. Do you think that Anderson even knew that cat cafés are a thing? They don’t seem like his jam but you never know. I can totally believe that Andy tried telling him a few times, but was ignored or tuned out. I’m pretty sure that’s a natural reaction to hearing Cohen talk in general. Anyway, +1 to John Mayer for the idea. If he’s back on the show next year, he should keep the theme going and give an interview from a dog park or zoo or something.
Photos via Instagram and YouTube screenshots
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