Blake Shelton's Twitter habits have landed him in hot water before -- but this time, instead of standing his ground, the country star has apologized.

In recent days, a number of insensitive old tweets allegedly posted by Shelton have been making the rounds on news websites. The messages, dug up by fellow Twitter users, were allegedly sent out by the singer between 2009 and 2011 and are racist and homophobic in nature. Although Shelton is known for being blunt and toeing the line these days on Twitter, on Wednesday (Aug. 17), the The Voice coach apologized for his comments.

“Everyone knows comedy has been a major part of my career, and it’s always been out there for anyone to see. That said, anyone that knows me also knows I have no tolerance for hate of any kind or form,” Shelton writes in a message shared both on Twitter and on Facebook. “Can my humor at times be inappropriate? Yes. Hateful? Never. That said I deeply apologize to anyone who may have been offended.”

The tweets in question have since been deleted from Shelton's account, and while his apology note has many positive, supportive replies, a number of followers expressed outrage: "I really can't listen to Blake Shelton's music anymore" writes one user.

Back in 2011 -- around the time of some of the now-deleted tweets -- Shelton told the New York Times that his Twitter habits worried his label, Warner Music Nashville.

“There was a point where Warner was like, ‘We’ve got to get Blake off Twitter, because he can’t say these type of things,'" the artist revealed. However, Shelton added, "I hope that people learn from me, it’s okay to be yourself. It’s okay to offend somebody, and, as a matter of fact, please be polarizing. If you’re not polarizing, you failed, in my opinion. If you don’t stand for something, how can anyone respect what you do?”

Shelton has a fall tour planned to begin in September and has kept busy filming the next season of The Voice. A re-worked version of his song “Bringing Back the Sunshine” is the official theme song for NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage.

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