Cee-Lo Says His Tweets About Rape Were Highly Irresponsible

In the past, when people have talked about Cee-Lo's reinvention, it was a musical one. The rotund Georgian went from the animated rapper musing about his apartment complex's gate with Goodie Mob to one of the most recognizable pop stars of the new millennium. There were the hits records, on his own and with Gnarls Barkley, there was his face beamed into living rooms every night as a judge on The Voice. Then, a woman accused Cee-Lo of drugging and raping her in 2012. After the news broke, he badly botched his response to the inevitable outcry, to the point where he had to delete his Twitter account as damage control. He ended up pleading guilty to one count of furnishing a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 360 hours of community service and is required to attened 52 Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Now, with a new album on the way, Cee-Lo is trying to make amends, and continues to speak on the case and his response.

Speaking with The Sunday Times, he described his tweets about rape as "highly irresponsible." (The messages in question claimed that an unconscious woman could not be raped, because her being with a man when she passes out implies consent.) "In those instances I do realize I'm an artist, that I'm flawed," Cee-Lo went on, "and sometimes, you know, you don't think. I was most certainly not thinking, not considering whom I might offend. And to those many people, however many or however few, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize again." His new album, which he says he initially wanted to call Girl Power, has been named Heart Blanche and arrives November 13.