People Magazine names country singer Blake Shelton 'Sexiest Man Alive'

People Magazine has left the world in a state of confusion after naming country singer Blake Shelton their Sexiest Man Alive. The publication put the Trump supporter at the very top of their annual list, but readers were quick to criticise the magazine for its controversial announcement. The Voice coach came under fire last year for a series of homophobic and racist tweets that made between 2009 and 2011. In one of the tweets, Shelton, who is currently dating singer Gwen Stefani, suggested that a man in front of him at a coffee shop was gay because he ordered "a skinny caramel latte". He also threatened to attack gay men, writing: "Any man that tries touching my behind, he's gonna be a beaten, bleedin', heaving kind of guy." Another tweet read: "[I wish] the d*ckhead in the next room would either shut up or learn some English so I would at least know what he's planning to bomb."

Prepare to swoon while staring into the eyes of the #SexiestManAlive! 👀🔥😍 pic.twitter.com/6c59CCdqCX

— People (@people) November 15, 2017

After the old tweets resurfaced, Shelton apologised in a statement by claiming they were meant as "comedy". "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 of form." "Can my humour at times be inappropriate? Yes. Hateful? Never. That said I deeply apologise to anyone who may have been offended." Twitter immediately went into meltdown over the news of Blake's new title, and some of the responses were, well, we'll let you judge for yourself.

Donald Trump is President.

Blake Shelton is the “sexiest man alive.” Mel Gibson is starring in children’s movies and getting booked on TV shows. Bye, America. You had a good run. But now you’re cancelled. — Molly (@isteintraum) November 15, 2017

I just googled Blake Shelton because I've never seen Idris Elba spelled that way before.

— Galen 🚵🏽 Pewtherer (@gln) November 16, 2017

This activated my fight or flight response https://t.co/MAzN4G7Jr6

— cayne (@c0mic_sans) November 15, 2017

pic.twitter.com/jW7TkQGhS7

— Christian Zamora (@Christian_Zamo) November 15, 2017

In an interview accompanying People Magazine's accolade, Shelton said he couldn't wait to wait to rub the news into Adam Levine's face, a fellow coach on The Voice. "I can't wait to shove this up Adam's ass," he said. "As proud as I am and honoured that you guys asked me, that's really the only thing I care about. When [people] would say to Adam, 'Mr. Sexy,' you'd always see him go 'Well, awwww...' If you say that to me, it's going to be, 'You're damn right, I'm Mr. Sexy! I've been ugly my whole life, if I can be sexy for a year, I'm taking it." We're speechless.   More stories: Jake Shears: ‘If all you’re giving the world is your body on Instagram – f**k off’ Attitude’s Masculinity survey reveals almost 75% of gay men are turned off by effeminate guys