Blake Shelton shocked fans on Wednesday night with a violent, seemingly anti-gay Tweet.
Referencing Twain's romantic hit "Any Man of Mine," the country singer and coach on The Voice tweeted: "Re-writing my fav Shania Twain song.. Any man that tries Touching my behind He's gonna be a beaten, bleedin', heaving kind of guy…"
(Twain's original lyrics are "Any man of mine better walk the line – Better show me a teasin' squeezin' pleasin' kinda time.")
Demanding that Shelton, 34, apologize, GLAAD wrote in a Thursday blog post: "This is one of the judges on what's so far been one of the most gay-friendly reality shows on television. For him to make a joke to his 300-thousand-plus followers about leaving a gay man 'beaten, bleeding and heaving' is completely unacceptable."
"Blake Shelton needs to recognize that violence against the LGBT community is not a laughing matter, and he needs to apologize to his fans, and to fans of The Voice, for his comments," GLAAD's post continues.
Soon thereafter, Shelton responded to the criticism. "Hey y'all allow me to seriously apologize for the misunderstanding with the whole re-write on the Shania song last night," he Tweeted Thursday morning. "It honestly wasn't even meant that way… I now know that their are people out there waiting to jump at everything I say on here or anywhere."
He added: "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!!!"
Indeed, a source close to the star tells Us Weekly: "Blake is so not a homophobe. He really meant that from the perspective on Shania – it was just meant to be a jibe about someone grabbing her *ss. He feels awful." Shelton Tweeted the controversial statement after watching Twain's appearance on The Oprah Show where she opened up about her now ex-husband cheating on her with her best friend.
Adds the insider: "He's the nicest, sweetest and most down-to-earth guy. He's extremely gay friendly. The man loves the Golden Girls!"
