Singer John Mayer is denying that he dates Jessica Simpson but it's too late - he's already been mercilessly sucked in to her publicity vortex, grounded into hamburger, and spit out like he's just another Nick Lachey.
Sources say that John is pissed about being used by Chestica and her people and he thinks she's desperate to stay in the spotlight.
Trying to do some repair on the out-of-control publicity ploy, Chestica went on TV's "The View" this week to "slam" reports (**wink, wink**) that she was dating John. Then, the next day, she fired her long time publicist for the bogus John 'n Jessica "fling".
The fiasco is believed to be tied to the promotion of her crappy CD. (Did anyone expect it to be good?) According to reports, her new album "A Public Affair" is tanking in slaes and her label, Epic - which is part of Sony - is not pleased.
Simpson’s people stand accused of trying to ignite interest in her fading star by splashing both People and Us Weekly with “exclusives” regarding her “romance” with -- you got it, Sony artist — John Mayer. Both magazines ran cover stories suggesting the two were dating, with the former even quoting Jessica saying “I’m in love!”
Gossip reporter Roger Friedman at Fox called Sony and was told that "they had no idea if such a thing were true, and that no one had ever seen the [John and Jessica] together." He quoted an insider as saying, "I think a date constitutes being seen in public at dinner or something. So far, that hasn’t happened.”
The source told Us Weekly: “The thing between Jessica and John was a 2 that her camp spun into an 11.”
The source went on to suggest that John has lost respect for his friend Jessica after the publicity machine went into overdrive: “Now he will stay away from her. He thinks it’s desperate. An attempt for her to stay in the spotlight.”
“It’s very clear to John who was pushing this story. And it’s also very clear to him that Jessica is under a lot of pressure to sell an album.”
