It’s often been said that celebrities should stay simply keep their political opinions to themselves.
Blake Shelton and Debra Messing recently learned the hard way that while it’s important for public figures to speak their minds on important issues, getting into specifics with regard to candidates can sometimes lead to some furious backpedaling.
It all started with an interview Shelton gave to Billboard magazine, in which he appeared to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign:
“In country music, we’re so politically correct and so afraid to possibly upset someone,” Shelton said.
“I’m not going to have a political conversation with you about Trump, or about Hillary Clinton, but I will tell you this: Whether you love him or hate him, he says what he thinks, and he has proven that you don’t have to be so afraid.”
He added:
“A lot of people are pulling for him, no matter how much Hollywood fights it,” he continued. “I see people who don’t like him go and beat up people that do like him. You tell me: Who’s crazy here?”
Despite Shelton’s later claim that he wishes there were a “third option” in the election, that certainly sounds like an endorsement to us, and actress Debra Messing took it the same way:
“Omg. How? @gwenstefani please talk to your man to not vote for the person who will STRIP you of your rights,” Messig tweeted, in response to Shelton’s comments.
We wish we could say the two of them engaged in a lively political debate, because that would be a lot more entertaining than what actually happened.
Shelton clarified that he’s keeping it purely apolitical (no easy feat in 2016) and specifically does NOT endorse Trump for president:
“Thank you sis,” he tweeted to Messing. “I don’t endorse anybody. For this very reason!!”
“OK — I regret commenting,” Messing responded. “My passions got the better of me. Sorry. @gwenstefani @blakeshelton.”
And that was it.
We’re sure the first Trump-Clinton debate will be just as civil.
Just kidding, that’s gonna be a televised blood bath, so you’ll wanna send the kids to bed early that night.
What we’re really looking forward to at this point is putting this election behind us so that we can get back to reporting on rumors that Blake and Gwen are expecting twins.
(They’re not, but rumors are fun, right?)
