Photo: Getty
Yes, he said that.
By Sarah Gangraw — Written on Jul 06, 2021
Country singer Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani's new husband and co-star on "The Voice," as well as People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" of 2017, has said, done and tweeted some ... questionable things over the years.
You don’t have to be a fan of country music to know who Blake Shelton, 45, is — though everything about him, from his looks to his relationships to his personality, have been hotly debated online.
Is Blake Shelton nice?
We haven't met him, so we can't answer yes or no based on personal experience, but while he and Stefani seem to be a happy, friendly couple, Shelton himself has said, done and tweeted some deeply troubling things that might call the type of person he is into question.
When he won People's "Sexiest Man Alive" honor, even Shelton himself seemed, telling the outlet his first thought was “ya’ll must be running out of people.”
Shelton was, however, excited to brag about his achievement to Adam Levine, fellow judge and 2013’s "Sexiest Man Alive," saying, “I can’t wait to shove this up Adam’s a**! ... As proud as I am and honored that you guys asked me, that’s really the only thing I care about.”
Playful ribbing with Levine aside, Shelton has faced his fair share of rumors and scandals, causing some to hate him, some to love him, and others to feel completely confused about what he's really like in real life.
Shelton was formerly married to singer Miranda Lambert until their 2015 divorce. Now the Oklahoma native is married to Stefani, 51, who he began dating sometime that same year, with many believing the their relationship began as an affair.
While the rumors about the 6-foot-5 country star’s suspected history of cheating and alcoholism are probably the most widely known about him, he’s made headlines for some other pretty disturbing reasons.
We looked into 12 of the most concerning things Blake Shelton has ever said, done or Tweeted to (including racist, homophobic and misogynistic now-deleted tweets) to get a closer look at what he's really like.
12 Facts About What Blake Shelton's Personality Is Like In Real Life
1. Blake Shelton once called old country music fans “old farts” and “jacka**es.”
In an interview with Great American Country for its Backstory series, Shelton said: “If I am 'Male Vocalist of the Year' that must mean that I’m one of those people now that gets to decide if it moves forward and if it moves on.”
The singer continued, “Country music has to evolve in order to survive. Nobody wants to listen to their grandpa’s music. And I don’t care how many of these old farts around Nashville going, ‘My God, that ain’t country!’ Well that’s because you don’t buy records anymore, jack**. The kids do, and they don’t want to buy the music you were buying.”
Soon after, an article by Saving Country Music proved that his statement was incorrect.
Awkward.
2. Shelton has posted homophobic tweets in the past.
Twitter is famous for famous people getting into trouble, and Shelton is no exception. The country singer has tweeted a handful of cracks towards gay people that are deeply concerning.
A few examples of some of the most homophobic tweets he's posted include these:
“Question for my gay followers…. Are skittles y’all’s favorite candy?”
“How can I be attracted to lesbians?... I’m not gay.”
“Grown men who wear Chuck Taylor’s may as well write on their fore head ‘Cucumbers turn me on!!!’"
3. And then there were Blake Shelton's racist tweets.
Back in 2011, Shelton was also dinged for inappropriate comments on Twitter. That time, though, he took a racist approach to tweeting.
Two examples include these:
“Wish the d--khead in the next room would either shut up or learn some English so I would at least know what he’s planning to bomb!!”
“Nothing says ‘Happy 4th of July’ like a airport shuttle bus driver that can’t speak a F--KING word of English!!! To the terminal Omar!!!”
Newsflash, Blake: Being racist isn't sexy at all!
4. Shelton tweeted his inappropriate fantasies about underage Dakota Fanning.
According to an article in Vanity Fair, one of Shelton’s now-deleted tweets from 2010 talked about a “sick fantasy” he had about then-16-year-old Dakota Fanning.
The tweet read: "So I just figured out a great excuse for my sick fantasy about Dakota Fanning. I thought she was Amanda Seyfried."
When Shelton posted that, Dakota Fanning was underage. That’s more than a bit disturbing if you ask me.
5. Some believe he cheated on ex-wife Miranda Lambert.
Over the course of their divorce, both Lambert and Shelton played the “he said, she said” game.
Photo: Getty
And while Shelton denies having been unfaithful during the four years they were married, Lambert stuck to her story that he did.
Sources close to Lambert told TMZ that Shelton cheated on the barnyard beauty "with a famous country singer."
6. Shelton was originally a Trump supporter, but later backtracked.
Shelton dove head-first into celebrity politics when he hinted he was In Trump’s corner back in July 2016.
Shelton told Billboard at the time, “A lot of people are pulling for him, no matter how much Hollywood fights it.”
“I see people who don’t like him go and beat up people that do like him. You tell me, who’s crazy here?" he continued. "I probably wish there was another option, but there’s not.”
He later tried to backtrack and deny that he was backing Trump in a tweet.
“Hey before this gets going like it always does," he wrote, "I haven’t enforced ANYBODY for president. And I not going to. I don’t do that sh*t.”
We think he meant endorsed, but you get the point.
7. Shelton has publicly called women the b-word more than once.
In 2016, Shelton veered over to the misogynistic side on Twitter, once again stirring the pot.
One of the now-deleted tweets read, “Thanks Augusta!! Flying home to sleep with two young blonde and black haired b*tches.”
He later apologized via a statement posted to Twitter.
"Everyone knows comedy has been a major part of my career and it's always been out there for anyone to see," Shelton wrote. "That said anyone that knows me also knows I have no tolerance for hate of any kind or form. Can my humor at times be inappropriate and immature? Yes. Hateful? Never. That said I deeply apologize to anybody who may have been offended."
8. Shelton once leaked Adam Levine’s real phone number.
Celebrities are always getting bombarded for their digits by thousands of fans and followers, and in 2014, Shelton released his co-star's cell phone number via Twitter.
He tweeted, “HEY EVERYONE!!! Here it is: (310) 493-7939 <-- @adamlevine's CELL NUMBER! Think I'm kidding? Try calling it!! Bitch!!”
The poor guy’s phone was probably going off non-stop because of Shelton. Shortly after the show, Levine's number was disconnected.
9. When Shelton was young, he participated in beauty pageants.
According to Entertainment Online, Shelton performed in beauty pageants when he was a little boy. There were no pageants for boys, so he had to be entered into the girls’ pageants.
He wasn't in it for the beauty contest, though. He wanted to sing. But in order for him to sing in the talent portion of the pageant, he had to go through the whole nine yards of a beauty pageant.
"There was a talent portion of the pageant," Shelton said. "In order for me to sing in the pageant like my mom wanted me to, I had to do the evening wear and all that crap."
10. Shelton once said that inviting then-girlfriend Stefani on stage with him was a bad idea.
Shelton brought Stefani out on stage with him during a set at Country Jam 2016 — and later said it was a mistake.
Photo: Shutterstock/DFree
They performed a duet together, “Go Ahead and Break My Heart,” before Stefani stole the crowd by singing a solo.
Later, in an interview on Chelsea Handler's Netflix series "Chelsea," Shelton admitted it was not a good idea to bring his girlfriend on stage with him.
"I'm doing my normal, you know, what I think is rockin'. Standing up there with my acoustic guitar in front of my stand and singing my songs," he said in the interview. "I had my band work up one of her songs, 'Hella Good.' And I thought 'Man, that'd be so cool to have her come out and surprise.' It's the worst thing I could have done because all it did was make me look terrible."
11. Shelton and ex-wife Lambert had a prenup.
Before they wed, Shelton and Lambert had a prenup written up in case their marriage went south.
Although a prenup can be useful in the event a divorce is filed, especially for celebrities and others with a high net worth, there are those who think prenups imply a lack of trust and doom the marriage from the outset.
12. Perhaps unsurpisingly, Shelton had a mullet in high school.
The country star would certainly not have been named Sexiest Man Alive back in his mullet days.
Photo: YouTube
Not that this should be considered a reflection on what Shelton is like in real life today, but come on, it had to be included.
Sarah Gangraw is a writer focused on pop culture, astrology and relationships.