Bashed “The Voice” Critic Responds to Blake Shelton’s Twitter Rant

Since the latest “The Voice” elimination did not involve the “[Texas native] we care about,” Houston Chronicle music critic Joey Guerra advised fans not to worry when reading his recap of Tuesday’s results show.

In implicitly downplaying Holly Tucker’s elimination, Guerra prompted a vicious Twitter rant from her coach Blake Shelton, who advised “chickensh*t” Guerra to “grow some balls and come tell me to my face how terrible some of these kids are face to face.”

Many of Shelton’s followers joined in the attack on Guerra, both on Twitter and on the Houston Chronicle website, making Guerra’s brief recap of the results show the major newspaper’s most-read article Wednesday.

Though Guerra did not directly engage with Shelton or his fanbase on Twitter, he did issue a response to his employer, noting that his comment was more about the value he ascribes contestant (and fellow Team Blake member) Danielle Bradbery than the lack of value he affords Holly Tucker.

“I understand and respect Blake’s passion for his team. I’m obviously rooting for Danielle Bradbery because she’s from Houston and one of the show’s most talented contestants, regardless of geography.

“If he took that as a knock to Holly, I can’t really change that. I’m honestly shocked at the nastiness of his responses and the responses of people on Twitter, which have included death threats. I actually commended Holly on a terrific performance of ‘How Great Thou Art’ a few weeks ago. My job is to be a music critic, good and bad, and I will continue to do that, knowing that not everyone will agree with me, especially when it comes to TV singing competitions. Not everyone can win. And not everyone is equally fantastic. I’m proud of the work that I do, and I believe I’ve been fair. Nothing I said was out of malice or spite.”

When asked about his rant, Shelton noted that he was “fed up” with Guerra, who had been ripping on “The Voice”‘s aspiring pop stars all season. He did not identify the specific comments that fueled his rage, but The Chronicle similarly refrained from speculating which comments might have done the trick, with the response article noting, “I’ve not read his previous coverage.”