Nothing that happened on the most recent season of The Voice could have been more surprising than what occurred just days after Maelyn Jarmon won the top prize, when coach Adam Levine suddenly quit the NBC mainstay. Much has been said about how and why Levine opted out of the next two seasons of The Voice, but it's now been revealed how much money he is missing out on by leaving.
NBC had already ordered up two more seasons of The Voice to air in Fall 2019 and Spring 2020, and Adam Levine had reportedly already signed the contracts to make his future appearances official. Though the exact salary figures weren't disclosed, THR states that Levine would have been pulling in more than $14 million per cycle, meaning he turned down $28-30 million by walking away from The Voice after Season 16.
One does not simply walk away from that much money, at least in any world guided by logic. Yet Adam Levine did just that after devoting much of the past eight years of his life and career to The Voice. So even if learning his estimated salary doesn't add anything crucial to this series-shaking news, it adds around $30 million worth of further evidence that Levine most certainly did not want to keep his Voice coaching streak going for even one more season.
That lump sum is only "further" evidence due to the abundance of instances where Levine himself has (arguably) proven his Voice fatigue during Season 16 itself. Perhaps the biggest catalyst for the Maroon 5 frontman's self-ousting happened during NBC's day during the network upfronts presentations for advertisers. The Voice's coaches took the stage at Radio City Music Hall for a crowd-rousing performance, but Levine appeared to be the one most in need of rousing.
Adam Levine's apathy reportedly ticked off upper brass at NBC, though it's unclear how big a role that played in convincing him to exit. Regardless of what happened during and after the upfronts, Levine's attitude had already became more obviously agitated and dismissive during certain moments on The Voice. Particularly when his casually antagonistic banter with Blake Shelton turned more harsh and rude, which earned him the same kind of social media backlash he received last season for his treatment of team member DeAndre Nico.
Things only got worse when Adam Levine's entire team got eliminated from competition a few episodes ahead of the finale. The coach was reportedly angered by The Voice's rule changes, specifically concerning the Cross Battle rounds, and many fans were in agreement on that front. However, fans did not agree with the way Levine acted on the show in episodes after losing his team, since he mostly just sat sullenly, without commenting on others' performances.
Levine's split with The Voice was reportedly still an amicable one from a studio perspective, which makes sense, considering he's an executive producer on the new summer series Songland, which premiered just this week. He doesn't put in nearly the same amount of hours and hands-on effort as he did with The Voice, so he likely won't need to move on from it in the near future.
Soon after Carson Daly announced The Voice's big shocker, Adam Levine took to social media to share his own words on leaving. Here are a few choice ones.
To the amazingly talented vocalists who competed on the show and blew my mind on a daily basis. And, BLAKE FUCKIN’ SHELTON. I couldn’t hide my love for you if I tried. Seriously. I tried. Can’t do it. Our friendship is and always will be one for the books. Whatever this whole surreal experience was, Im just happy I got to experience it with you. You’re my brother for life. Kelly and John, take care of the cowboy and I’m sure I’ll be back to say hi very very soon. So much love to you both. And lastly, to all of the loyal voice fans, there’s literally no show without you guys. For me, it was time to move on. Your support has meant EVERYTHING.
Though Adam Levine will presumably be busy with lots of things career-wise in the near future, he could potentially still return to The Voice in some capacity in the future, even if it isn't for a full-season's coaching job. According to Hollywood Life, NBC execs would welcome Levine back in the future if he wanted to return, though it's also stated that not even producer Mark Burnett expects him to.
With former coach Gwen Stefani stepping in to fill Adam's shoes/chair, The Voice will return to NBC for Season 17 this fall.
