The Voice' Judge Adam Levine Mutters 'I Hate This Country' on Live TV -- But What Did He Really Mean?

From left, Usher, Shakira, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton arrive at "The Voice" season 4 red carpet event at the House of Blues on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 in Los Angeles. (Photo: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

"The Voice" coach and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine found himself in hot water after muttering "I hate this country" on a hot microphone during yesterday's NBC show.

It had just been revealed that country music singer Amber Carrington, one of Levine's contestants on The Voice, was "saved" by votes from America.

As the camera moved to fellow coach Blake Shelton, Levine was heard saying "I hate this country."

Watch video of the incident below:

Twitter users called the statement "completely unnecessary" and speculated that someone would get fired for leaving Levine's microphone on during the incriminating sentence.

The Atlantic wrote: "What with being a pop star and all—and he should know that any time you put 'hate' and 'country' in the same sentence, well, things don't turn out so hot. The timing is particularly bad considering his Voice co-coach (and buddy) Blake Shelton is organizing a relief concert for victims of the Oklahoma tornado, which will appear on NBC tonight."

But Levine quickly came out with an explanation, noting that he wasn't saying he actually hates America, more that he hates how America voted with regard to the contestants. And though his contestant was saved, it was right after he lost two others.

Here are a number of tweets Levine posted:

(Photo: Twitter/adamlevine)

Levine elaborated in an interview with US Weekly: "I obviously love my country very much and my comments last night were made purely out of frustration...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."

--

Related:

• ‘Extremely Insensitive’: Beyonce & Jay-Z Under Fire for Cuba Anniversary Vacation
• Scenes From ‘Nerd Prom’: America’s Celebrities and Politicians Mingle at Glam Correspondents’ Dinner
• Award-Winning Actress Goes on Late-Night Twitter Rampage Against Conservatives, Jon Lovitz