(CNN) — “The Voice’s ” Adam Levine is fighting off a backlash.
The Maroon 5 frontman and “Voice” coach has been fielding angry viewers on Twitter Wednesday after he let an unpatriotic comment slip during “The Voice’s” Tuesday broadcast. As Levine was watching two of his contenders in the NBC competition get eliminated, he muttered, “I hate this country.”
It appeared that Levine wasn’t speaking with intent, not that it mattered much in the moment as his remark was still picked up by his mic.
That comment reportedly set off a wave of unhappy responses from viewers, to whom Levine’s presumably been tweeting the definitions of “joke,” “humorless” and “misunderstand.”
But those semi-explanations apparently didn’t suffice, as Levine’s also issued a more formal statement.
“I obviously love my country very much and my comments last night were made purely out of frustration,” the 34-year-old said. “Being a part of ‘The Voice,’ I am passionately invested in my team and want to see my artists succeed. Last night’s elimination of Judith and Sarah was confusing and downright emotional for me and my comments were made based on my personal dissatisfaction with the results. I am very connected to my artists and know they have long careers ahead, regardless of their outcome on the show.”
CNN’s Douglas Hyde contributed to this report.
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