Adam Levine has a message for ''American Idol'': Some of your contestants are gay, get used to it. The coach of NBC's hit singing competition “The Voice'' takes aim at the competition in a new interview with Out magazine, claiming that “Idol'' discourages aspiring Idols from coming out of the closet if they're gay.
“What's always pissed me off about 'Idol' is wanting to mask that, for that to go unspoken,'' Levine groused. “C'mon. You can't be publicly gay? At this point? On a singing competition? Give me a break. You can't hide basic components of these people's lives. The fact that 'The Voice' didn't have any qualms about being completely open about it is a great thing.''
In its first season, “The Voice'' had several out contestants, with two of them, Beverly McClellan and Vicci Martinez, making the competition's final round.
“Voice'' host Carson Daly touted his series' gay-friendly nature in June, telling TheWrap, “The thing about 'The Voice' is no one knew anything about anybody. It's not like it's a gay friendly show on purpose ... There wasn't any bias, but we embraced the fact that the gay community was so well represented in our show, and we were very proud of that.''By contrast, “Idol'' contestants Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert didn't publicly admit to being gay until after they were done with that competition.
Though “The Voice'' has won kudos from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for its inclusiveness, two of the series' coaches, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green, have come under fire for making seemingly anti-gay remarks. Shelton caught heat in May for tweeting, “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 ...'' Green, meanwhile, angered many when he tweeted to a music reviewer who'd panned his concert with the missive, “''I'm guessing you're gay? And my masculinity offended you? Well f* you!''
Both Shelton and Green apologized. During his Out interview, Levine revealed that his younger brother is gay, and theorized that sexuality is as some anti-gay factions suggest, learned behavior. “I can single-handedly dispel any ideas that sexuality is acquired,'' Levine asserted “Trust me, you're born with it. My brother is gay, and we knew when he was two. We all knew.''