Country music singer Blake Shelton has
apologized for an anti-gay tweet.
Shelton, a judge on NBC's reality
talent show The Voice, apologized on Thursday at the urging of
gay media watchdog GLAAD.
“I want my fans and @nbcthevoice fans
to know that anti-gay and lesbian violence is unacceptable!!!!”
Shelton tweeted to his more than 300,000 followers.
GLAAD became riled over a tweet
delivered overnight that included new lyrics to the Shania Twain song
Any Man of Mine.
Twain's lyrics include the line, “Any
man of mine better walk the line – Better show me a teasin'
squeezing' pleasin' kinda time.”
“Re-writting my fav Shania Twain
song,” Shelton messaged. “Any man that tries Touching my behind
He's gonna be a beaten, bleedin', heaving kinda of guy...”
In a blog post at its website, the
group said Shelton had “displayed some astoundingly bad judgment”
in demanding an apology.
Aggravating
Shelton's messages was the news that two contestants on The
Voice
are gay males.
At first, Shelton attempted to minimize
the damage: “Hey y'all allow me to seriously apologize for the
misunderstanding with the whole re-write on the Shania song last
night. It honestly wasn't even meant that way... I now know that
their [sic] are people out there waiting to jump at everything I say
on here or anywhere. But when it comes to gay/lesbian rights or just
feelings.... I love everybody. So go look for a real villain and
leave me out of it!!!”
GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios cheered
Shelton's reversal.
“Following outrage from community
members and allies, Blake Shelton took the right step in speaking out
against anti-gay violence and sending an important message to his
fans and viewers of The Voice,” said Barrios.