Adam Lambert has no hard feelings toward Clay Aiken — despite the fact that the American Idol Season 2 runner-up flipped into Full Bitch Mode late last week and posted a series of blog entries blasting Adam’s talent.

“I don’t know Clay,” Adam told Access Hollywood after performing on the The Today Show on Thursday. “I’m glad he’s getting headlines now though, because he wasn’t before.”

em>“If he wants to ride my coattails about it, good for him,” he chuckled.

Last week, Clay hit his Official Blog, and slammed Adam, this season’s runner-up, and his rendition of the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire.”

“At that moment, [I] thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening,” Clay wrote of the performance, adding that he was surprised that people were actually voting for Lambert.

Clay later apologized after his comments created a firestorm with Glambert Fans.

“I do apologize to Adam for my colorful (and negative) choice of words. I hope he can forgive me,” Clay wrote. “I imagine he doesn’t give a damn! :-) God knows he shouldn’t.”

The intolerant little queen best known as Clay Aiken has issued an “apology” to this season’s American Idol runner-up, Adam Lambert. Aiken — a Idol Season 2 runner-up — has retracted some of his off-color criticism of fan favorite Lambert, who lost the title to crooner Kris Allen on last week’s finale.

In a blog posted on Thursday, Clay suggested that Adam’s performance of Johnny Cash’ Ring of Fire from earlier in the Idol season was “contrived, awful, and slightly frightening” and nearly made his “ears bleed.”

“Since my previous blog got dissected like a biology lab frog, I suppose I should clarify and even retract some of what I wrote,” Clay wrote on his Official Web Site on Friday.

“I hope no one actually believed that blood truly poured forth from my ears when I heard him. I obviously meant it as a colorful statement to imply that I did not enjoy what I heard,” he added.

“He could not have gotten on ‘Idol’ (nor made it as far as he did) without an immense amount of talent. He surely doesn’t need my approval to know he has a gift,” Clay wrote of Adam. “I imagine he’ll be around for years to come.”

“God knows, I am SURE there are PLENTY of people who can’t stand to hear me sing either. I wouldn’t dream of assuming that, and I am sure that far worse things have been said about my performances than I would even venture to type here,” he wrote. “To me, that’s fine. I don’t expect unanimous, nor even majority support for my music. My guess is Adam doesn’t either.”

Finally, Clay offered an apology to Adam.

“So, I do apologize to Adam for my colorful (and negative) choice of words. I hope he can forgive me,” he wrote. “I imagine he doesn’t give a damn! :-) God knows he shouldn’t.”

Clay Aiken is in the headlines this morning after posting a scathing blog on his ClayOnline website trashing American Idol and the competition’s new favorite gay, Adam Lambert.

In an entry on the blog — accessible only by paying the nearly $30 fee to become a fan club member — the Idol Season 2 runner-up reveals what he really thinks of Adam and why he’s happy Kris Allen won the title of American Idol 2009.

According to Gawker, Clay wrote:

“Now that it’s all over, and for the record…. I couldn’t be happier about the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season, and only to see what the set looks like each year. This year, I happened to turn it during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing “Ring of Fire” and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening!”

Clay goes on to say, “Granted, I never saw another performance (and many folks who I trust said that he was great) but I can’t imagine I would have enjoyed it. Just not my cup of tea at all. To each his own. I never saw Kris sing on the show, but whether he was good or not is really relative. It’s usually a matter of taste, right? But Idol is not always a matter of musical taste only. It’s about the person you like. From what little I saw, Kris seemed likable. (That’s not to say that Adam isn’t just as likable as anyone.. maybe more so… I don’t know) When Ruben and I were standing next to each other every night (many years ago) you had two equally talented, equally unlikely, equally unpolished contestants…. so it really was a matter of taste as to who was voted for. While some may argue that one of us was hyped more than the other, I don’t feel that was the case. However, this year, there was an obvious bias. Not even having watched the show, I can tell you that I was WELL aware of the bias from the judges as to who should win. In my opinion, that is awfully unattractive. I don’t think I am alone….”

Clay says Idol just isn’t what it used to be, recalling 2003, when he first appeared on the show that made him a music star: “I was the nerdy little girly boy who some didn’t want to see win, so they may have voted for Ruben. I don’t know. .. But again, I feel that Ruben and I were fairly matched. We both had our detractors and negatives, but I feel we were both very worthy of being on that stage in that moment, and either of us would have been worthy of winning. The show was different then, and folks made it in seasons 1-3 because they were “real” people who happened to sing/entertain well. But, somewhere along the way, AI stopped being about real people.”

America’s Next Top Model fans are in luck. Tyra Banks’ hit fashion reality competition will get a bit of Idol infusion this Wednesday, when American Idol Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken Sashé Shantés his way on the scene to help the ANTM girls fine-tune their acting skills.

Clay’s “Acting Like a Model” edition of America’s Next Top Model airs Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on The CW.

Clay Aiken is no longer with RCA Records.

“We were unable to come to terms in a recent contract negotiation, and decided that it was best to move on,” a rep for the American Idol Season 2 finalist confirmed on Friday.

Clay Aiken will make a guest appearance on the new season of America’s Next Top Model, Us Magazine reported Wednesday. The American Idol Season 2 runner-up will work with aspiring models in an acting challenge on the April 8 episode.

Clay will also critique the contestant performances as part of the judges’ panel.

Clay Aiken’s stepping out of the closet with a new boyfriend. The former American Idol star is reportedly dating Broadway dancer Reed Kelly.

“Everybody knows Reed as Clay’s guy,” a insider close to the Wicked ensemble member tells Star. “Clay met him when he was doing Spamalot in early 2008, and that’s one of the reasons he came back to the show again.”

Read About It Here

This is Part II of Clay Aiken’s September 25-26 “Coming Out” Interview with Good Morning America.

Watch Part I Here

Clay Aiken is making the morning talk show rounds after confessing that he’s gay in PEOPLE Magazine earlier this week. In this video from Thursday Good Morning America, the recording artist chats about his decision to come out of the closet with soft-spoken anchor Diane Sawyer.