You'd think the one magazine in need of doing some damage control this week would be Marie Claire, but no, it's the Shape editor-in-chief who's issuing a mea culpa.

Why is she apologizing, you ask? Because 40 people hate LeAnn Rimes, that's why.

In the October issue of Shape, which featured LeAnn on the cover, Rimes briefly addressed the fact that she cheated on then-husband Dean Sheremet with also-married-at-the-time Eddie Cibrian.

Editor-in-chief Valerie Latona sent the following email to Shape readers:

You are all in good company (why I'm e-mailing you all together) as you all agree Shape has made a terrible mistake in putting LeAnn Rimes on the cover.

Please know that our putting her on the cover was not meant to put a husband-stealer on a pedestal -- but to show (through her story) how we all are human. And this woman in particular found strength in exercise in what she said was her most difficult personal moment.

But it did not come across that way ... And for that I'm terribly sorry.

She sent that letter, which has now been published all over the Internet for everyone to read, and guess how many people wrote in to complain about LeAnn? Let's check back with Valerie Latona:

The fact is a mere 40 readers out of almost 6 million readers wrote in to complain ...

All of 40 readers bitched about LeAnn Rimes, and Shape sent an apology referring to her as a "husband-stealer on a pedestal"? Even if those were the exact words the readers used, what a gross thing to do. I bet this is going to make it a lot harder to convince celebrities to grace their covers and help them sell magazines, because who knows when they're going to turn around and apologize for random reader opinions.

Meanwhile, Marie Claire's editorial response regarding the post that has generated over 2,700 furious, offended comments and 28,000 emails to date? "Maura Kelly is a very provocative blogger ..."

I can't decide which editor has their head more thoroughly jammed up their respective ass. What do you think?



Image via Shape.com