Today, LeAnn Rimes struck back via Twitter: “Just so all my fans know, I’m getting to the bottom of this. It’s the first I’ve heard of this. Shape is throwing me a party next week as a thank you and a congrats for being on their cover for the third time. I find this very contradictory.” 

Later on in the day, Rimes Tweeted a link to a brand new statement from Shape editor-in-chief, Valerie Latona, who seems to be backtracking now. The editor now says her “personal letter” to readers in which she called LeAnn a “husband stealer” was taken out of context. She says that only 40 out of 6 million subscribers complained about the Rimes cover but she wanted to send a  note to those unhappy with the cover.

“I don’t want anyone to be unhappy–so I took the time to write a personal note to them, apologizing for not having someone on the cover they wanted to see and hoping to do right by them the next time. (I do this many times for all cover stars and you really can’t ever please everyone all the time,)” she wrote.

Latona continues to stand behind her decision to use Rimes on the cover: “The bottom line is this: I stand by the fact that LeAnn’s story is compelling–and her courage and strength in the face of so much adversity is compelling. That is why I put her on the cover of Shape for what is now the third time.”