Gwen Stefani, who has been a coach on The Voice for five seasons, is opening up about politics in a new interview. The pop superstar and former No Doubt lead singer joined the hit singing competition series in season 7. She's had several breaks from the show, returning for seasons 9, 12, 17 and 19. Before her most recent season in 2020, Stefani had never had any of her artists win The Voice. But that all changed when Carter Rubin took home the top prize, becoming one of the youngest winners in the history of The Voice at the age of 15. They beat out Stefani's fiancé, Blake Shelton, who had to settle for first and second runners-up with his artists Jim Ranger and Ian Flanigan.
Speaking of Shelton, the two Voice coaches started dating in 2015, the same year that Stefani returned for her second season of the show. They got engaged in the fall of 2020. She doesn't often talk about politics. During the 2016 presidential election, Shelton said that he doesn't endorse candidates but added that "a lot of people are pulling for" then-candidate Donald Trump. The country music singer was criticized in 2020 for some comments he made on Twitter regarding coronavirus statistics put out by the CDC.
Now Stefani is opening up about politics in a new interview with Paper magazine. When asked where she stands politically, she understands why people are curious to know. She replied, "I think it's pretty obvious who I am. I've been around forever. I started my band because we were really influenced by ska, which was a movement that happened in the late '70s, and it was really all about people coming together." She added that she had a song called "Different People" that was included on a music playlist released by President Barack Obama.
The Voice coach Stefani didn't get super specific about her political leanings in the interview, saying that voting is a very personal act. "The whole point of voting is you have this personal space to feel how you feel," she explained. "I use my platform to share my life story and to engage with people and to exchange whatever gift I was giving. I'm not a political science major. I am not that person. Everyone knows that. So why would I even talk about it?"
The above comments by The Voice's Stefani and Shelton are somewhat veiled in terms of their political leanings. But it does appear that the two singers share differing political views, though they seem to be making it work. Despite not being explicit in this interview, it's not hard to find out which way Stefani leans. She was a big fundraiser for Obama's re-election campaign and personally donated to his campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Some celebrities are very loud and proud about their political views and who they support in various elections. Others want to keep it quiet and focus more on their artistry and talent. Either way, they're going to be criticized by the public. As soon as a celebrity speaks out, they're attacked on social media. And there have even been times when certain celebrities have been criticized for not speaking up about certain issues or politicians, particularly in 2016. The trolling and negative comments will come their way no matter what, and as The Voice's Stefani mentioned in the interview, someone in her position has to understand that it comes with the territory, no matter how hurtful it can be.
Source: Paper