Cee Lo Green found himself in a similar (but not exact) situation as John Cena, having to apologize for the use of the word "gay" in a response to a critic.

At his concert in Minneapolis, an exchange with the audience was covered by the City Pages music critic:

===

"Do you realize I'm just foreplay for Rihanna?" Cee Lo Green asked the near-capacity crowd, taking a break from his lackluster set to attempt to rouse the bored audience. "Rihanna's gonna f--k you," he said. "I'm just here to get you wet."

Gross, Cee Lo. But thanks for sharing.

===

So in response, the music star replied on Twitter:

===

"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!"

===

(I feel compelled to add that he dressed as a peacock and wore an Egyptian head dress at the Emmys, looking like he raided the closets of both Elton John and Scott Steiner.)



So the City Pages reviewer then replied today:

===

The pop singer and co-star of NBC's new talent show The Voice on NBC apparently didn't like my review of his performance last night at the Target Center, where he opened for Rihanna. Though I've always enjoyed Green on record, his live show fell flat in the big auditorium and his stage banter was downright lecherous at times. I wasn't necessarily offended by anything Cee Lo said, just mostly kinda creeped out and generally unimpressed with the show.

Music reviewers, by nature, generally have to have pretty thick skin -- we're writing about something that's completely subjective, which means that there's always going to be at least some percentage of our readership that doesn't agree with what we're saying. I'm not one to be easily irked by a response to something I write, even if the response is coming from the artist themselves.

But this is just plain weird.

Judging by Cee Lo's persona on The Voice, a show that's propelled him into stardom just as much as his joyously profane hit single "Fuck You," it might just be his sense of humor. Hell, I live in the gayest city in America, and we aren't the types to sling around "gay" as an insult, so I'm not inclined to take offense to such a statement as a knee-jerk reaction. But it also wouldn't be the first time that one of the judges on The Voice has been called out for using their Twitter account to spew homophobia.

What do you think? Oh, and also Happy Pride Week, Twin Cities!

UPDATE: Cee Lo has issued an apology. Apparently he wasn't trying to be homophobic, he just assumed I was a man?

===

So once people took exception to him saying the reviewer must be gay (thus explaining why she didn't enjoy his references to making the women in the audience wet before Rihanna f--ed them), Cee Lo replied...

===

VIA PREPARED STATEMENT: I always expect people to assume that everything I do is part of my character and sense of humor. I assumed that whoever it was would assume it was all in good fun.

VIA TWITTER: Apologies gay community! what was homophobic about that? I said I was guessing he was gay which is fine but its nice to what u think of me." (grammar/syntax unchanged)

===

Cee Lo then deleted the Tweet and quit Twitter.

Okay, this is quite different from Cena because with Cena, it was pretty clear he felt the audience would laugh along with him at jokes that presupposed that that thought of Rock being gay would be hilarious and embarrassing because, of course, what could be a worse accusation to make than Rock might be queer because he crossdressed or wrote a tutu and played a gay character in movies.

With Cee Lo, he's just being weird. I mean, I could get his comment if he knew the reviewer was a woman (her byline is: Andrea Swensson) and felt that if she didn't find this rotund, small-handed (was it an SNL skit that riffed on that?), golden-voiced, feather-wearing talented musician sexy when he talked about making women in the crowd wet, that must mean she is a lesbian. Other than the "f--k U" that made any claim he was just joking around pretty absurd, his tweet could have been seen as sarcastic and even self-deprecating because to take it any other way would make Cee Lo seem ridiculous. But clearly he was upset, so if he felt she wasn't turned on by him because she likes women, so be it.

But he thought she was a man! So how in the hell does what Cee Lo said make any sense?

The only way it makes sense is if he felt the reviewer was a gay man who by virtue of being gay wouldn't be masculine, and therefore would be threatened by his masculinity.

So, Cee Lo, that's why what you said is homophobic - the presumption that a gay man - so unfamiliar with masculinity - would be offended by his straight manliness (peacock feather outfit and headdress notwithstanding).

I didn't write this blog to try to figure out Cee Lo, though, although I couldn't resist trying to decode his Tweets and figure out where in the hell he was coming from. I'm not sure he's anti-gay as much as just thin-skinned and clumsy in trying to come up with a reason someone wouldn't love everything about his performance on stage.

I wrote this to point out that John Cena (and pro wrestling) is hardly alone in being the subject of scrutiny when it comes to throwing around gay jokes or gay accusations, and it's pretty typical for the celebrity under scrutiny to make things even worse. So Cena is hardly alone in being a total screwup when it comes to handling clumsy, ill-advised statements involving gay jokes or gay accusations.

But Cena is worse - and this is a key to all of this - because he is a role model to kids who are entering the years of sexual awareness accompanied by deep insecurities.

While Cee Lo assuming a "gay man" would be "offended by masculinity" at its core comes from a stupid stereotype he holds, the damage it does isn't as great as what Cena did (and still doesn't understand).

There are kids who have grown up from ages 7, 8, and 9 following him who are now entering the years where they might be realizing they might be gay. Their hero for the last several years made it clear, not just with The Rock, but also with the implications made toward Justin Gabriel, that being accused of being gay is funny and embarrassing. It not only hurts young gay teenagers who might have looked up to Cena (and validates the doubts they have about whether they deserve to be picked on and beat up for who they are and who they have feelings for), but it empowers bullies who have their own insecurities who take it out on the kids in school whom they think might be gay. Cena's made it clear he's got their back. The bullies' back, that is.

The careless, ignorant missteps by Cee Lo and Cena are part of an ongoing process in our culture. The attempts to tell jokes at the expense of a group of people who have been discriminated against (women, blacks, the disabled, gays, etc.) eventually becomes unacceptable, and for good reason. (Gay teens don't commit suicide at a higher rate for no reason.) But there are always some stragglers, who are famous for one reason and then attempt to flex their comedic muscles, who fall flat on their face.

The best full-time comedians don't have to reach into the gutter for the subject of their jokes by aiming at what they believe to be easy, safe targets. Or if they do, they damn sure make sure their target market aren't the vulnerable young teens who are most easily influenced and damaged by their dated notions and bigotry at worst, or ignorant clumsy attempts at humor at best.

SOUCE LINK: CITY PAGES music critic responds to Cee Lo

TOP STORY AT LOCAL TV NEWS WEBSITE: KARE11.com story on Cee Lo-City Pages

Please Recommend or Like This Article on Twitter or Facebook

KELLER BLOG: Paul Heyman alliance with C.M. Punk - where does it go from here?

KELLER'S WWE SUMMERSLAM PPV BLOG: Results and analysis throughout the show including Lesnar vs. Triple H, Cena vs. Punk vs. Show

KELLER: C.M. Punk is not best utilized as a tweener, despite a recent reader poll; he should be all out heel

Comment on this Article Below