Blake Shelton Responds to Trace Adkins’ ‘Chelsea Lately’ Diss

Blake Shelton made an appearance on the 600th episode of 'Chelsea Lately' this week, talking about his upcoming greatest hits album -- 'Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton,' his obsession with Twitter, and 'Hillbilly Bone' duet partner, Trace Adkins.

At one point, host Chelsea Handler showed Blake a clip of Trace from earlier this month, in which Trace had this to say about the soon-to-be Grand Ole Opry member: "He's like working with an animal ... you have to give him a treat when he's good, spank him when he's not. He's not very smart."

Since Chelsea didn't give Blake an opportunity to respond to the comment, we did! The Boot caught up with Blake backstage before his concert at Los Angeles' Club Nokia on Wednesday night and asked to hear his rebuttal. "When somebody like Trace Adkins says I'm not very smart, it's like a turtle telling a snail that it's slow," Blake told us with a laugh. "It means nothing to me."

Looking at Trace's career with more than 10 million albums sold, there's no wonder why he'd need to grab on to Blake's coattails. "It's Trace still leaning on me well after our duet has come and gone," Blake continued. "He still manages to attach himself to me somehow, even in interviews."

The teasing is all in good fun, of course. Trace, who presented Blake with the Grand Ole Opry invitation last month, will be there to support his friend when Blake is inducted Saturday, October 23.

"This moment, hands down, is the highlight of my career," Blake said after being asked to become a member of the historic radio show.

'Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton' will be released November 9.

Blake is currently on his first headlining tour with the last stop tonight (October 21) in Phoenix, Ariz. Details on the 'All About Tonight' tour stop may be found here.

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