The main CeeLo Green controversy began in 2012, when a woman accused the singer of slipping ecstasy into her drink at a Los Angeles sushi restaurant. Prosecutors declined to charge him with sexual assault but did charge him with a felony drug offense, to which he pleaded no contest in 2014 and received probation. Days after that plea, he posted a series of tweets appearing to minimize rape, which cost him a TBS reality show and drew broad public condemnation. Smaller incidents — a homophobic tweet at a music critic in 2011 and a staged “exploding phone” video in 2016 — bracket the main story.
The 2012 Drugging Allegation
In July 2012, a 33-year-old woman told the Los Angeles Police Department that Green had put ecstasy in her drink while they were dining at a downtown Los Angeles sushi restaurant, and that she later woke up naked in a hotel bed with Green present.1NBC News. CeeLo Green Cleared of Sex Assault, Charged With Giving Drugs to Woman The LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division opened an investigation the following month.2LAPD Online. Music Artist Is Charged With a Felony
Green reportedly told investigators he had taken ecstasy himself but denied drugging the woman or assaulting her. Law enforcement sources said police found no evidence of “wrongful intent” tied to a sexual assault.1NBC News. CeeLo Green Cleared of Sex Assault, Charged With Giving Drugs to Woman After more than a year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to charge him with rape of an intoxicated person, citing insufficient evidence.3Los Angeles County District Attorney. Singer CeeLo Green Charged
The Felony Drug Charge and Probation
On October 21, 2013, prosecutors charged Green with one felony count of furnishing a controlled substance — ecstasy — under California Health and Safety Code section 11379(a). The count carried a possible four-year state prison sentence, and he pleaded not guilty at arraignment the same day.3Los Angeles County District Attorney. Singer CeeLo Green Charged4Jacksonville.com. Cee Lo Green Pleads Not Guilty in Felony Drug Case
On August 29, 2014, Green pleaded no contest. The plea was entered as an “innocence plea,” which blocks its use against him in civil court.5CBS News. Cee Lo Green Enters No Contest Plea in Drug Case6Courthouse News Service. CeeLo Green Avoids Jail Time in Ecstasy Case7CBS News Los Angeles. Judge: CeeLo Green in Compliance With Probation in Drug Case8AFRO. Judge Ends CeeLo Green’s Supervised Probation in Drug Case
The 2014 Rape Tweets
Within days of his plea, Green posted a series of tweets that were captured in screenshots before he deleted them. They included “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!” and “If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent.”9The Guardian. Cee Lo Green: It Isn’t Rape if the Victim Is Unconscious10CBS News. Cee Lo Green Apologizes for Idiotic Tweets About Rape
Green briefly deactivated his Twitter account and, on September 3, 2014, apologized: “I truly and deeply apologize for the comments attributed to me on Twitter. Those comments were idiotic, untrue and not what I believe.”11NBC Chicago. CeeLo Green Apologizes for Rape Tweets: Comments Were Idiotic, Untrue He also wrote, “I’d never condone the harm of any women.”12BBC News. Cee Lo Green Sorry for Comments About Rape In an August 2015 interview with The Sunday Times, he called the posts “highly sensitive” and “highly irresponsible,” saying he had “most certainly” not considered whom he might offend.13Rolling Stone. Cee Lo Green Speaks on Highly Irresponsible Rape Tweets
Career Fallout
Green had already left NBC’s The Voice before his plea. He described the exit as voluntary, saying the show had “easily and quickly became a job” that was “very, very obligating.”14ABC News. Cee Lo Reveals Why He Quit The Voice A production insider told The Wrap he quit “to avoid being fired” while “feeling the weight of a legal case that could result in prison time.”15The Wrap. NBC Blindsided by CeeLo Green’s Voice Exit
The clearer casualty was his TBS reality series The Good Life, which followed Green and his hip-hop group Goodie Mob. On September 2, 2014, the same day the anti-sexism group UltraViolet launched a petition demanding cancellation and gathered 32,000 signatures in under three hours, TBS ended the show after one six-episode season.16amNewYork. CeeLo Green’s The Good Life Canceled Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that TBS attributed the decision to weak ratings, an average of 677,000 viewers, rather than the tweets.17The Hollywood Reporter. TBS Cancels Cee Lo Green’s The Good Life
The 2011 Homophobic Tweet
In June 2011, after Minneapolis music editor Andrea Swensson published a negative review of a Green concert with Rihanna at the Target Center, Green tweeted at her: “I respect your criticism but be fair! People enjoyed last night! I’m guessing ur gay? and my masculinity offended u? well f—k U!”18Star Tribune. Cee Lo Green Sends Crazy Tweet to City Pages Over Bad Review He deleted the post and wrote a follow-up: “I’m no bigot or homophobic. It’s all a very big misunderstanding.”19The Hollywood Reporter. The Voice’s Cee Lo Green Responds to Homophobic Tweet
The Fake Exploding Phone Video
In December 2016, surveillance-style footage circulated online that appeared to show a cell phone exploding in Green’s hand and knocking him down. It spread during real safety concerns about the recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7.20NME. Cee Lo Green Exploding Phone Isn’t Real Green said on Facebook Live that the clip was staged, taken from a shoot for a project called Gnarly Davidson meant to introduce a new “character identity,” and apologized to anyone “emotionally disturbed” by it.21Stereogum. CeeLo Green Acknowledges Exploding Phone Video Is Fake
How the Story Has Resurfaced
The 2012 allegation and 2014 tweets have followed Green into later appearances. When he sang the national anthem at Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics on June 5, 2022, users on social media questioned the booking, citing both the tweets and the original drugging accusation.22ABC7 News. CeeLo Green NBA Finals National Anthem Performance Sparks Backlash