Blake Shelton was accused of making homophobic remarks on his Twitter feed last night, but sources close to the star say you couldn’t find a more ‘gay friendly’ man.

The country star, who is currently coaching on talent show The Voice, posted what some claim was an anti gay joke about Shania Twain’s ‘Any Man of Mine’ when he tweeted:

“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… (sic)”

The tweet left the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) up in arms and on their official blog made a statement saying:

“This is one of the judges on what’s so far been one of the most gay-friendly reality shows on television. For him to make a joke to his 300,000-plus followers about leaving a gay man ‘beaten, bleeding and heaving’ is completely unacceptable.”

Shelton returned to Twitter later to apologise for what he called a “misunderstanding”, adding:

“When it comes to gay/lesbian rights or just feelings… I love everybody. So go look for a real villain and leave me out of it!!!”

A friend of the singer told Us Weekly:

“Blake is so not a homophobe. He really meant that from the perspective on Shania – it was just meant to be a jibe about someone grabbing her ass. He feels awful.”

The insider added: “He’s the nicest, sweetest and most down-to-earth guy. He’s extremely gay friendly. The man loves The Golden Girls!”