Jessica/John affair over as quick as it started

E!:

Simpson's manager dad, Joe Simpson, gave his daughter's publicist [John Shuter] the heave-ho this week, reportedly because the elder Simpson's quite perturbed about the way Shuter put the spin on his little girl's burgeoning relationship with Mayer, with a People magazine cover story Aug. 31 touting Jessica's declaration that she was in love eventually turning into an Us Weekly cover pronouncing the singer "Dumped!"

Which must have come as a surprise to Simpson, considering she went on The View this week and announced, "I am actually not dating John Mayer." (Isn't it hard enough getting dumped by the people you actually are going out with?)

A source close to the hullabaloo told Radar magazine that the overblown story was "100 percent Shuter. He broke all the rules of the game. He's a pathological liar. I wonder how much Jessica even knew what he was up to."

While the People story didn't feature Joe actually confirming that there was a love connection between Simpson and Mayer, he did tell the magazine, "I love John Mayer…If my daughter's happy, then I'm happy. And if she's in love, then I'm in love with the fact that she finds happiness. It's been a tough year for her."

Both People and Us Weekly, which also reported on the supposed hook-up last week, have stood by their reporting.

Meanwhile, Mayer's camp is turning this into a Simpson-only affair. A "friend" of the Heavier Things singer said in Us' Sept. 18 issue that Mayer is distancing himself from his brief fling and "now he will stay away from her…He thinks it's desperate. An attempt for her to stay in the spotlight."