Blake Shelton's $2 Million Tabloid Defamation Lawsuit to Move Forward

The 39-year-old country superstar filed suit against Bauer Publishing Company in October 2015 in response to an In Touch Weekly cover story, with a headline reading: "REHAB for Blake." Shelton claims defamation and false light invasion of privacy in the lawsuit, calling the headline and several details within the article -- including allegations that he was unfaithful to ex-wife Miranda Lambert during their marriage, and that members of his "close circle" had been attempting an intervention -- "patently false."

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A California judge has now denied Bauer's February 2016 motion to have the suit d-ropped, ruling that "a reasonable person viewing the In Touch headline and sub-headlines -- which were located 30 pages away f-rom the Article -- might well have concluded that Shelton had, in fact, entered 'REHAB' after 'his friends begged him to stop joking about drinking and get help.'"

The judge also stated that "it appears to be undisputed that [In Touch Weekly] ran the headline and sub-headline ... without believing that Shelton had actually entered rehab."

Meanwhile, Shelton is keeping busy professionally with his ongoing coaching gig on The Voice and the upcoming release of his new album, If I'm Honest.

Among the songs featured on Honest is the Christian single, "Savior's Shadow," which Shelton says was written during a particularly challenging time in the last year.

"At a very dark time in my life last year I dreamed the first verse of this song," he said in a statement last week. "I woke up and immediately wrote it down. Now, looking back, I know it was God's way of telling me that he's here and things are gonna be OK."

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