John Legend Hits Back at Blake Shelton Hollywood Diss

Trae Patton/NBC

A new season of NBC’s The Voice has begun, and that means fans get their fair share of banter between coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Blake Shelton and Nick Jonas.

Following the Blind Audition of country singer Avery Roberson, the coaches all got into it about whether or not Blake Shelton had gone Hollywood. Shelton actually brought up the topic himself when trying to say that Clarkson had walked away from country music.

Roberson earned a four-chair turn and standing ovation from the coaches following his performance of Tim McGraw’s “If You’re Reading This.”

Shelton Says He Hasn’t Gone Hollywood

Following the audition, Clarkson told the contestant that she thought he’d probably pick Shelton as a coach but reminded him that she grew up listening to country music and had won The Voice with a male country artist previously.

“Kelly said something that I never really thought about before,” Shelton said. “She says she grew up on country music, but then she walked away from it. I, on the other hand, grew up on country music and that is all I’ve ever done.”

He added, “I just celebrated my 10th year as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. And my 10th year as a coach on The Voice.” 

That’s when Legend jumped in with a diss of his own.

“He’s gone Hollywood, I will say that,” the superstar joked.

Shelton said he lives in Oklahoma, not in Hollywood.

“My point is, I am the only person on this panel who knows who sings the song that you just sang,” Shelton said. “It’s important to have a concrete understanding of country music because you can’t know where it’s going unless you know where it came from. I have to be your coach, Avery. I would be honored, I’d be proud to be your coach.”

The Other Coaches Slammed Shelton’s Pitch

Following Shelton’s assertion that he’s the only right coach for a country singer on The Voice, the other coaches said that that’s not the case.

“I think it’s absurd that every time we have a country artist come out here, you say the same things about, ‘I know the song, I know this,’ and you do, but imagine if there was a pop artist who came out and we said ‘we’re the only ones capable of coaching this person because we know pop music,'” Jonas said.

Jonas added that he wanted to know what Roberson liked to sing, and the contestant responded that he used to sing pop music but now likes country music, which made Clarkson identify with him more since she lived in both of those areas.

Jonas added that he likes writing country music and has worked with Thomas Rhett, Dan + Shay and even Shania Twain.

It’s been a running type of banter this season to see Shelton tell contestants that all the other coaches have gone Hollywood, and they tend to respond to that by reminding the performers that Shelton is marrying Gwen Stefani, who they say is Hollywood, meaning he’s marrying Hollywood, in effect.

“You came to Hollywood and started dating Gwen Stefani, the ultimate manifestation of ‘California Girl,'” Legend told Shelton at one point.

Legend also hit back by adding, “I think you’re fearing that you’ve become too Hollywood, and so you’re projecting.”

The Voice airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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