People Sexiest Man Alive Blake Shelton's Homophobic and Racist Tweets

On Tuesday, news of People magazine's winner for the Sexiest Man Alive of 2017 began leaking onto social media — and their pick surprised more than a few folks. The name of the publication's unexpected choice: Blake Shelton. In reference to his win, Shelton told People that he "can't wait to shove this up Adam [Levine's] Ass!" He seems fun.

Shelton, a man I regularly mistake for Keith Urban, is a winner that many social media users have already questioned. "Did everybody die?" asked comedian and reasonable human being Akilah Hughes. Around our office, we simply made this face, but in real life: 🤔 🤔 🤔 After all, this means People likely ignored basically every single other male celebrity with the exception Donald Trump (I will concede that Blake Shelton should win over Donald Trump). I say this not because Shelton isn't attractive — as I said, he looks just like Keith Urban to me — but because he has said some pretty awful things in the past

You May Also Like

CelebrityWhy Amber Heard Said She Was "So Wrong, Just So Fucking Wrong"

CelebrityTerry Crews Names His Alleged Assailant as He Shares More Details About Sexual Assault

As Twitter user @MusicFactsTea pointed out in 2016, tweets apparently posted by Shelton between 2009 through 2011 are pretty damning:

https://twitter.com/MusicFactsTea/status/764488735979220992

https://twitter.com/MusicFactsTea/status/764494692104806400

"Question for my gay followers... Are skittles y'all's favorite candy?" one tweet reads. Another fun one, apparently referencing Ellen Degeneres, says: "I'm not gay but I think ellen is hot!... Wait a minute.. What?!" I prefer to imagine Shelton tweeted this by accident while trying and failing to use voice dictation on his iPhone.

Daily Beast reports that in 2011, Shelton also 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..."

But wait — there's more! Screenshots by Twitter user @Rhea_xcx show these tweets apparently from 2009 through 2011:

https://twitter.com/rhea_xcx/status/764571960110034944

One tweet reads, "Nothing says "Happy 4th of July" like a airport shuttle bus driver that can't speak a FUCKING word of English!!! To the terminal Omar!!!!" As an editor, I want to explain to him to use "an" prior to "airport shuttle bus driver"; as the child of an immigrant, I would prefer to ban him from all social media and television as a whole because the "learn English!" bit is racist, xenophobic, and tired as hell. And while it should never come from anyone, it is with painful irony that these prejudices are so often spewed by wealthy guys like Shelton who don't know which indefinite article to use when spewing them.

After news of Shelton's People cover spread on social media, it wasn't long before many these tweets resurfaced:

https://twitter.com/KenTremendous/status/930861488515923968

It's worth noting that Shelton (sort of) issued an apology when the tweets went viral last year, as famous people tend to do when they realize people have noticed their bad behavior.

https://twitter.com/blakeshelton/status/765957327988072448

His somewhat confusing apology reads, "Everyone knows comedy has been a major part of my career and it's always been out there for anyone to see. 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." Shelton was 40 years old at the time this tweet, blaming his immaturity, was posted.

NBC

Of course, regardless of Shelton's inclusion, lists that declare certain people the "Most Beautiful" and "Sexiest" tend to veer quickly into the problematic zone. For instance, only four women of color have appeared on the cover of People's Most Beautiful issue since its inception in 1990; for comparison, Julia Roberts received her fifth earlier this year.

When contacted for this story, People Magazine responded with the following: "PEOPLE’s editor in chief, Jess Cagle, explains in his editor’s letter this week why Blake Shelton was chosen this year." A link was included that to the mentioned editor's letter, which you can find here. The letter explains Shelton was chosen for his "considerable charm," and because he uses his "gifts and [his] talents to make the world a better place."

"We admit that it’s a strange time to be talking about Sexiest Man Alive — it seems like every day another famous man is being exposed as a sexual predator," one part of the editor's letter reads. "But ultimately this list celebrates men who do good as well as look good."

Allure reached out to Blake Shelton's representation and will update this article accordingly.

---

Read more about Keith Urban Blake Shelton:

---

Here are some other celebrities that look exactly the same:

Follow Sam on Instagram and Twitter.