Michael B Jordan will 'let it slide' after Paul Rudd replaced him as Sexiest Man Alive

Michael B. Jordan is willing to "let it slide" after losing his Sexiest Man Alive crown to Paul Rudd.

The 34-year-old actor has joked about being replaced by PEOPLE magazine after being given the honour in 2020 before the 'Ant-Man' star took over this year.

During an appearance on 'Live with Kelly Ryan', he joked to hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest: "I mean, they just throw you out.

"Like, two weeks ago I was all the rave and now I'm just 'former Sexiest Man Alive'... Actually, I just woke up to the news.

"They didn't give you a heads up, no. It was a little rude, a little disrespectful. But I let it slide because it's Paul Rudd."

Michael described the honour as "a gift and a curse" due to the reaction from his friends.

He said: "To all my friends it's just a target on your back, you know? The group chats, I mean, all the memes and the GIFs — they just have a ball with just giving me c***."

Last month Paul, 52, joked his wife Julie Yaeger would have actually picked Keanu Reeves as the Sexiest Man Alive.

Asked if she would have voted for him if she'd had the chance, he quipped: ""No, she would have voted for Keanu Reeves… Come on, he’s Keanu, I’d vote for him!"

The 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' star previously admitted his wife - with whom he has kids Jack, 17, and 12-year-old Darby - was "stupefied" by the news and initially laughed at her husband.

He said: "She was stupefied. But you know she was very sweet about it. After some giggling and shock, she said 'Oh, they got it right.'

"And that was very sweet. She was probably not telling the truth, but what's she going to say?"

And Paul is expecting his friends to give him "so much grief", but he doesn't care as he plans to boast about his new title as much as possible.

He said: "As they should. I would. I mean I'm going to lean into it hard. I'm going to own this. I'm not going to try to be like 'Oh, I'm so modest.'

"I'm getting business cards made. But all of my friends will destroy me and I expect them to. And that's why they're my friends."

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