Country singer Blake Shelton is suing In Touch for claiming he was in rehab, Gossip Cop reported.
In Touch claimed on its cover in September Shelton, who also is a coach on NBC’s The Voice, “finally hits rock bottom” from an alleged drinking problem.
The cover claimed Shelton was “drinking vodka before noon & slurring his words — it’s worse than anyone knows.” It also say “What he did while wasted that destroyed his marriage.” In Touch’s article quoted anonymous sources, Gossip Cop added.
The story also alleged Shelton’s friends are “terrified that he could end up dead at this rate” and Lambert found Shelton with “a bunch of naked women,” Rolling Stone reported.
A separate article Shelton is complaining about says he cheated on his now-ex-wife Miranda Lambert. Shelton and Lambert, also a country singer, divorced this summer.
“Blake Shelton has had enough,” the lawsuit states, according to the Associated Press.
“Mr. Shelton is not in rehab and has no plans to go to rehab, which Bauer would have known had it bothered to contact any of Mr. Shelton’s representatives prior to publication of its misleading Rehab Story,” the lawsuit says, according to entertainment news site The Wrap.
“Neither drinking nor womanizing contributed to Mr. Shelton’s divorce from Mrs. Lambert,” the lawsuit added.
“To be clear: Mr. Shelton has not hit rock bottom,” the lawsuit went on, according to Billboard.
Further, “the affair story was false,” People said Shelton’s lawsuit reads. “They did not have a sexual relationship or affair of any nature whatsoever.”
Shelton earlier tried to get the article retracted, according to CBS News.
See below the cover, via TMZ.
iMediaEthics has written to In Touch‘s publisher Bauer Media for comment.
Shelton is asking for more than $1 million, according to the AP, and also wants an injunction so In Touch can’t publish the claims again.
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