Mick Jagger is responding, with more reflection than defensiveness, to John Mulaney’s comedy bit about whether the Rolling Stones frontman was “nice.”
Entertainment Weekly reported that Jagger addressed the segment during a new interview with The New York Times.
Just Jared reported that the bit came from Mulaney’s Kid Gorgeous special, where the comedian reflected on working with Jagger when the singer hosted Saturday Night Live in 2012.
Jagger said he had not seen the special. Still, when the premise was explained to him, he did not entirely reject Mulaney’s larger point about fame changing the way a person moves through the world.
Mulaney Said Jagger’s Fame Changed the Rules
In the stand-up segment, Mulaney joked that friends had asked whether Jagger was nice. His answer was no. Mulaney argued that decades of stadium-level fame could change how a person experiences normal social expectations.
When asked about the bit, Jagger said he had never watched it. After hearing the summary, however, he acknowledged that Mulaney’s point about fame was not entirely wrong.
EW reported that Jagger said his life is “not like most people’s lives” and that fame “does affect you.” He also said people in show business can become disconnected from what many would call real life.
“You get disassociated from what people might call ‘real life,’” Jagger said, according to EW.
Jagger Separated Himself From His Stage Persona
Jagger explained that he has to make a conscious effort not to drift too far from ordinary experience. One way he does that, he said, is by going outside on his own and doing simple everyday things.
Just Jared reported that Jagger gave buying The New York Times as an example of a normal activity that helps him stay connected.
Jagger also said he is not exactly the same person as the larger-than-life figure audiences see onstage. EW reported that he compared the shift to the way actors sometimes have to leave a character behind after a role.
