In case you missed it, some shit went down between singer Cee Lo Green and anti-homophobia watchdogs recently. Chronologically, if anyone has sensed a recent increase in public attention or reporting on the issue and begun keeping a timeline of “Black Male Celebrities Making Jerky Remarks About the Gay Community,” this exchange occurred after Tracy Morgan’s infamous stand-up performance in Nashville and before Chris Brown’s latest misuse of the word “gay.”
To summarize, after Rihanna and Cee Lo performed at Minneapolis’ Target Center, music editor Andrea Swensson of the local alternative newspaper City Pages wrote a review that expressed how she was pleasantly surprised and impressed by Rihanna’s act but underwhelmed by Cee Lo’s.
Swensson wrote that his set “failed to measure up to the fun factor of his recorded material” and mentioned “a hilarious, profanity-laden rant in which he tried to badger the audience into dancing to his songs.”
She also mentioned that Cee Lo told the crowd “Rihanna’s gonna fuck you. I’m just here to get you wet,” and noted that she thought his remarks were gross.
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Cee Lo apparently saw the review and was not impressed by Ms. Swensson’s work either. “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!”
Though Ms. Swensson’s response was essentially a not-very-outraged “excuse me?” the masses took up the cause and called Cee Lo out as a homophobe.
Personally, I think Cee Lo is extremely creative and I love his work. He’s one of the strongest, boldest judges on “The Voice.” Plus I think he has a brilliant mind, clever sense of humor, and a serious sense of style. That being said, I think there was nothing humorous, stylish, clever or brilliant about his tweets to the City Pages music editor.
Cee Lo responded to the waves of outrage with this semi-coherent tweet:
“Apologies gay community! What was homophobic about that? I said I was guessing he way [sp] gay which is fine but its nice to what u think of me”
Apparently this was his attempt to clarify that he didn’t think the offending writer was a man-hating lesbian, but a man…which really isn’t much more acceptable.
Perhaps he read her byline as Andrew Swensson instead of Andrea Swensson. Maybe it’s time to stop wearing dark sunglasses indoors all the time if you’re having trouble reading, Mr. Green.
Regardless of Swensson’s gender, Cee Lo’s initial tweet in response to the editor’s review still teems with ignorance. I mean, since when does masculinity offend gay men? Is that why masculine guys are so often the most sought after golden boys of online cruising sites?
Cee Lo eventually deleted the original offending tweet, the apology tweets, and then sent and deleted a tweet in which he threatened to quit Twitter. Where I’m from, we call that a mini Twitter meltdown.
He later admitted to Us Weekly that he was being “a little outspoken,” and “a little outrageous,” and that it was “all in good fun.” He also insisted that he certainly isn’t “harboring any sort of negative feeling toward the gay community,” is “one of the most liberal artists,” has openly gay team members on his team on “The Voice,” and that he has recently performed songs to emphasize how important he thinks it is that “we can get along even though we’re so different.”
Is Cee Lo’s “outspokenness” reason to protest watching the next season of “The Voice”? Probably not. And if you weren’t offended enough to stop watching the show when “Voice” judge Blake Shelton tweeted violent homophobic sentiments last month, then you’re likely not about to stop watching now. I mean, after all, the show is pretty damn good.
Was it unfair of Ms. Swensson to be a bit taken aback that a stranger on stage, someone who she might not have necessarily found sexy, had promised to get the whole audience “wet?” An unplanned communal wetness in a stadium like that? I don’t know…it sounds kind of…messy?
There are a lot of talented music artists, and particularly black music artists that I’d welcome to threaten me with an encroaching sensation of “wetness.”
To give you some context, I’m a 28-year-old white boy from Connecticut; a Northern European mutt who usually gets mistaken for Mexican because of my dark features, tan skin, and the fact that I live in Southern California. I don’t mind being misidentified even in the slightest, plus I think it sounds way cooler and sexier than being from the “Constitution State.” But that could just be me.
Last year, when my boyfriend at the time – a sweet white guy from South Carolina – asked me to make my list of the five celebrities I was allowed to sleep with if I had the chance, I answered: Pharrell, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Tyrese.
Listen, I have a natural attraction to musicians, and an equally innate attraction to black guys. I can’t explain either: I’ve just always felt that way. Put an equally attractive and skilled musician next to a woodworker, I’ll choose the musician. Put an equally attractive black guy next to a white guy, I’ll choose the black guy. (Of course, there are a ton of Latino guys, and men of other colors and regions I’d like to sleep with as well, but I’ll save that for another post. For the record, I mostly just try not to “do the dirty” with white blondes, which is mostly based on my efforts to undo decades of blonde-deification.)
Yet “wetness” isn’t an immediate sensation I expect when listening to Cee Lo’s music or watching him perform. Glee? Yes. Nostalgia? Sure. Playfulness? Often. Longing? Sometimes. Maybe even a slight seductive sultriness? I’d even go so far as to say mild elation. But not wet.
Though the reason Cee Lo determined the editor is gay—assuming the reviewer was offended by his masculinity and not just underwhelmed or put-off by his performance—was a bit of a weak one, I can sympathize with someone’s misfiring gaydar.
After all, I actually was never totally sure if Cee Lo himself might be gay. It wasn’t a definite thing, just more like a passing curiosity, and just for fun here are my eight main reasons why.
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Take, for instance, this Muppet-inspired costume Cee Lo wore at the 2011 Grammys, complete with the sparkling metal headpiece and hundreds of giant, colorful feathers. Now if that isn’t the gayest looking turkey I’ve ever seen…
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Duuuude. Earrings? Why do guys think it’s okay to wear them? Let’s just decide once and for all that earrings = you must like penis. Or want to be a woman. And I mean, that’s pretty gay.
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From the Gnarls Barkley days…Twinsies?? Matching black bowlers, Amish underwear, and glasses of milk might have been Clockwork Orange-inspired, but adding the identical blonde wigs that they might have received at the Chicago auditions for the role of Velma Kelly? So cute!! (And kinda gay.)
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- The “Lady Killer” strikes a pose.
Cee Lo titled his latest album The Lady Killer and spends a good portion of his time on “The Voice” talking about how sexy all the ladies are. That look-how-much-I’ve-got-a-way-with-the-women sort of posturing just reminds me of Ricky Martin singing lady-lovin’ anthems like “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “She Bangs.” You really need to remind us every other minute how much ladies turn you on, and how much you, in turn, get their engines revving? Pu-lease.
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Okay, while we’re on the subject of album titles: the C’s 2006 album title The Closet Freak: The Best of Cee-Lo Green The Soul Machine was half-built on the 2002 single called “The Closet Freak.” Honey, stop with the closets! Come on out and let that freak flag fly!
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I really hate when psychologists try to turn everything into a representation of a phallus. A man can’t peel a banana, take his own temperature, sing into a microphone, drink out of a water bottle, or eat a fucking lollipop without one of those doctors telling him it means he wants to suck some dick. And well, following that logic…um….
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The “I Want You” video where Cee Lo plays the part of a character called “Loberace” inspired by Liberace and dresses in all sorts of bedazzled and ornately sewn capes and jackets? Guuuurl!
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IS THIS THE FACE OF GAY MARRIAGE?!?!!?
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Tony
Gays constantly overreacting and being whiney pussies is hurting the cause, imo. I think what Mr. Green said in his “colorful” way was because Ms. Swenson may be gay, she couldn’t understand his humor. The comment was stupid…but hardly homophobic or hateful.
Godiva
I actually 100& agree with this article, which was well written, well researched, and hilarious. I can’t speak for everybody, but until this incident, I’d definitely assumed he was gay. Why wouldn’t you? It’s not that he’s outlandish, it’s that most aesthetic decisions he has made are very… well, flaming. The Grammy outfit? Come on. But honestly, I can think of plenty other musicians I’d rather find out are “closet freaks”, he’s not cute.
scott ny'er
steve tyler doesn’t exactly scream Hetero in his satorial choices. Nor did most of the big-hair acts, like Poision, Van Halen, etc.
till the world ends
@scott ny’er: Yes you’re so right. If it was a white man it would be punk but a black R&B guy does it, it’s gay. You can be colorful and be straight.
Mike in Asheville
Didn’t Liberace prove that not all flamboyant entertainers are gay….what….he was what….never mind.
XTIAAN
You cant make musicians be all P.C. 24/7, because then youll start on the artists, and if art cant say what it wants, its all farenheit 451.
I agree thats theres a fine line to tread, but god queerty you seem to report every little thing, youre preaching to the converted ok. Homophobia is just out there, its like the weather, some days its pissing down, some days blue skies. Reporting the minutia of everything is counterproductive, its makes us lack a focus.
P.S Ive no idea who this guy is, are you guys (america) doing parliment all over again? its what it looks like here.
can you guys just stop invading foreign countries and killing people and exporting your terrible TERRIBLE music for a moment so teh gays gays can focus?
that would be awesome, thnx k bai xxxxxxx
thankyou
love xtiaan
xxx
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Lil Wayne?
Trent
So tired of this overreacting… I agree with Tony. We are beginning to be seen as offended by everything. It is really annoying and eventually we are just going to be seen as whiney about everything and when we do get upset by something really offensive; it will not be taken seriously. The squeaky wheel gets the grease; but after a while you just forget about it and move on.
christopher di spirito
Cee Lo Green is a big, ole Diva.
She performed this year at the Coachella Music Festival and spent the better part of her act bitching about not getting an earlier performance time in the huge lineup of music acts.
Cee Lo complained so much that the crowd turned on her and started to boo.
Joey O'H
Cee Lo is a loud mouth diva queen. I can’t imagine a woman or man being attracted to him on the outside or inside. His music is sub-par.
One hit record and Cee Lo’s a diva. I hope he’s banking his money ‘cos his second single follow-up to “Fuck You” is generating no interest or airplay.
Jesse
Its funny how so many of you don’t know anything about Cee-Lo. He’s been out for years! Since the early/mid 90’s in fact. He was originally in a hip hop group called The Goodie Mob, which feature Big Boi and Andre 3000 who are aka Outkast (also known for their flamboyant style). Then he went solo for a few years. In the early 2000’s, he was 1/2 of the very successful band Gnarl’s Barkley (Known for the song “Crazy”). He’s alo been a producer/songwriter and worked with the likes of Lauren Hill and many others. I admit, he is just now becoming super mainstream… but the guy is very talented. He’s been married for years and has kids. So why is it, that when someone isn’t your cookie cutter black male perfomer… he has to be gay? Gays want to praise the works of Lady Gaga, because she is different and makes a statement… but when its a straight male… he has to be questionable?
christopher di spirito
@Jesse: I love Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”. Great song.
hf2hvit
Are we REALLY sure he’s not Gary Coleman after reinventing himself???
Michael
The reason why I think Cee Lo is gay is because he sounds more like a woman than a man when he sings.
CHYKOLAETHAI
I see the white gay mafia are up to their ole tricks again. I guess black dudes either have to be a homophobe or a sissy. Ceelo has ALWAYS had that style waaay before Gnarls Barkley. He was in a Rap group Goodie Mod and no one thought he was gay. Same goes for Andre of Outkast he too has a different style and again no one thought he was gay. I swear…
mrbrodybrown
@CHYKOLAETHAI: obviously the intention for this article to convey a tone that was satirical and playful didn’t quite translate to you as I would have liked it to, dear reader. i was trying to comment on how ridiculous it was that Cee Lo would try to assume to know someone’s sexuality based on a review – in this case – his flippant response that called City Pages editor gay because she didn’t like his act – and flipped his flimsy evaluation process on its head by picking up on equally ridiculous, superficial details that one could misinterpret as signs that Cee Lo himself is gay. ps, where is this white gay mafia and do they hand out scholarships or line cutter-passes for Disneyland? I mean, they haven’t done shit for me! 😉
Daws
@XTIAAN: I’m amazed how one in a single comment both tells us how american music is terrible, and yet reveals that he doesn’t know even one of the currently most famous figures in it. I haven’t heard it but it sucks I’m sure of it.
Even if you did hear any of it, one must keep in mind that in another country you only get that which has enough backing to get imported to another country…thus all you get is the pop, which yes sucks. But that is not all of American music, just as the Spice Girls are not all the brits have produced in the last 20 years.
John
Why is it that whenever a white dresses flamboyant
they’re labeled gay but when a black does the
same he’s just a pimp?