Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani Ditch CMAs To Avoid Miranda Lambert, Protesting After Snub?

Blake Shelton and girlfriend Gwen Stefani were noticeably absent from the 50th Annual CMA Awards on November 2, but did they both skip out on the ceremony to avoid an awkward run-in with Shelton’s ex-wife Miranda Lambert or was Blake’s absence in protest of his snub after receiving zero nominations?

According to reports, Blake purposefully didn’t attend the Nashville award show, despite taking home nine CMA awards in his career, because he knew Miranda would be attending the big show, dubbed Country Music’s Biggest Night, with boyfriend Anderson East and instead opted for a more low-key evening.

Hollywood Life revealed that Blake “didn’t even watch the CMAs” hosted by his peers and friends Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and instead opted to go hunting in his home state of Oklahoma.

“He’s been out in the woods in and around his ranch in Oklahoma,” a source told the site of how Shelton spent CMA night after being snubbed completely in the 2016 nominations, though Stefani’s whereabouts aren’t clear. “He’s been spending time with his guy friends, hunting and having guy time.”

The insider also went on to reveal that Blake “decided to remove himself from the show and focus on a drama-free vacation at home” because he knew that Lambert, who also performed her new single “Vice” during the show, would be bringing Anderson as her date.

“[Blake] is set to return to work on The Voice soon and this was his only downtime,” continued the source, “so he chose to use it doing what he loves best.”

But while Shelton allegedly spent his time away from the CMAs at home in Oklahoma, his and Stefani’s absence from the award show was definitely felt by the singer’s fans, with some fans even speculating that Gwen and not Miranda could have been the reason Blake snubbed the ceremony.

“@blakeshelton Why aren’t you at CMA’s? Best award show ever! Did you have to stay home and babysit again?” @martine197138 asked, seemingly suggesting that Blake could have been on babysitting duty for Stefani’s three children, Kingston, Zuma and Apollo.

Other fans even speculated that Blake opted to spend some time with Gwen rather than risking an awkward run in with Miranda.

“Where’s Blake Shelton [though]?” Twitter user @sammayyx3 asked. “[With] Gwen somewhere.”

Blake’s dedicated fans took to social media to speculate that Shelton may have turned down an appearance at the ceremony, which celebrated 50 years of country music, because the Country Music Association snubbed him this year by awarding him zero nominations, despite Shelton releasing his new album, If I’m Honest, within the 2016 eligibility period.

After a Twitter user noted that those behind the scenes of the show invited every recipient of the prestigious Entertainer of the Year award, which Blake took home in 2012, to return to the show for its anniversary, fans praised Shelton for failing to appear and hinted that his reluctance to attend the event could have been in the form of protest.

“Good for him!! He chose right! @CountryMusic should be ashamed! Go Blake! He knows his fans love him,” @dancingnurseb tweeted, while @bada**sgwen added, “Good! I’m glad he turned them down. They don’t deserve him.”

Shelton’s fans speculation regarding Shelton and Stefani’s CMA Awards absence came just weeks after social media users discussed what they described as a snub on the 140-character site, noting that Blake, who has received multiple CMA nominations every single year since 2010, was left out in the cold while Miranda garnered a nomination for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Blake nor the Country Music Association have commented on the snub, though some Twitter users were quick to speculate that the CMA’s reluctance to nominate Shelton could have been due to his very high-profile romance with Gwen.

“I am really pissed,” Shelton fan @your_honeybee2 tweeted after it was revealed that Blake had not received a single nomination at the 50th Annual CMA Awards. “If this happened in any way, shape, or form because Gwen is Blake’s [girlfriend], then the CMA is completely out of whack.”

What do you think of Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton snubbing the CMAs?

[Featured Image by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]