and are making it clear — again — that they’re not an item.
The “” musician invited the “” singer to join him on his on Sunday to clear up rumors about their relationship status after fans took notice of their recent exchanges on social media.
Mayer, 41, introduced Halsey, 24, on the show as an “unbelievable artist” and “dear friend of mine”— and even admitted her appearance was “a little clickbait-y”— before asking her how she felt about “addressing the elephant in the room.”
“I feel it’s probably about that time to set it straight,” she replied.
The pair then kicked off the “Are They Dating Game,” complete with cue cards. “If we are dating, it’ll be great, and if we’re not, we’ll be fine!” Mayer deadpanned.
Mayer then asked Halsey to answer, “Are we dating?” She replied by holding up her cue card which read, “NO.” Mayer revealed his cue card had the same answer and said they “effectively shut that one down.”
“Halsey and I ask for publicity in this very difficult time,” Mayer joked.
Next, Mayer and Halsey had to answer a bonus question asking why they wouldn’t date.
Mayer wrote, “The fact that we’re both alpha types, while not prohibitive, would make a romantic relationship difficult, especially when compounded by the fact we’re both highly driven and creative artists who value our independence.”
After revealing she wrote down the exact same answer — and showing that she was in on the joke — Halsey quipped, “You know, for being my not-boyfriend you really do know me so well.”
Mayer also Halsey if she’d ever “genuinely felt kind of sad when a dating rumor gets debunked.”
“I think the worst though is when you debunk a dating rumor, and then a little while later you’re like, ‘S—, I might date them,'” she said.
Then delving deeper, Mayer asked Halsey about reconciling with an ex. He asked if she’d ever refrained from getting back together with an ex because of the press’ speculation on her relationship status.
“Yeah for the past 18 months of my life,” she said, likely referencing her on-again, off-again relationship with ex-boyfriend whom she most . “The worst is, as well, when you vehemently deny a rumor somewhere and then you wake up the next day and you’re a human being and you’re like, ‘I would have sex with this person.’ And then you’re seen in public with this person and you’re like, f— I literally said yesterday that I was not…It’s weird, and sad. And weird.”
Mayer most recently dated ex , whom he split from in July 2015, but rumors about a relationship with Halsey flew after onlookers took note of the pair’s ongoing social media banter. Halsey quickly shut down the reports on Twitter in November, though.
“I just had a ground-breaking idea. What if…we let female artists…have friends…without assuming that they are sleeping together?” she wrote. “I know I know. It’s like, completely ambitious but like, imagine if we like, tried?”
A few weeks later, Mayer posted another playful comment on Halsey’s Instagram. After she shared her frustrations over experiencing writer’s block, he replied, “I can be over to break your heart in 20?”
During an in November, Halsey reiterated once again that she and Mayer are just friends and that he has even given her advice on how she can stay true to herself.
“We’ve been friends for a couple years and he’s really funny and smart and he gave me a lot of really good advice about staying true to myself,” she said. “The thing about him is he’s a musician. He’s an instrumentalist. He’s one of the greatest… probably the greatest guitar player my generation has to offer. He’s a songwriter and he’s so, so talented.”
Halsey continued: “The advice that he’s given me has been really organic and it’s been a lot about the art and the integrity and staying true to that because he’s managed to maintain his integrity while still having a tremendous amount of commercial success, which is so admirable. And then he’s like, ‘Screw it. I’m gonna go play with The Dead.'”
Halsey also explained in an how her friendship with Mayer developed.
“I met John Mayer at a bar,” she said. “We’re like platonic mates now. If I think something is funny, I run it by him first, because he’s a comedic genius. He’ll tell me if it’s funny, but he’ll tell me if it’s not. I started answering people on Twitter by their first names. Someone will be like, ‘Halsey f—ing sucks,’ and I’ll be like, ‘Stacy, wow, calm down.’ He loved that.”
