CeeLo Green may not be a name you’ve thought of in a minute, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make a big musical impact in his career…until controversy lobbed him into near obscurity.
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Whether you know his from his Goodie Mob days, as one-half of “Crazy” Gnarls Barkley or the man that made the NSFW anthem you couldn’t help but scream-sing about your ex, Green has no doubt had a hand in making some really good music moments. But like most artists his journey was filled with a handful of ups and downs that almost cost him everything.
Due to his resurgence on TikTok, we thought we’d take a look back at how he rose to prominence and the mess that kicked him off his musical pedestal. Keep reading to get into all the drama!
Say Hello to the Goodie Mob
CeeLo first came on the scene in 1995 as a member of the Atlanta rap group Goodie Mob. While fans may have been drawn to the hard bars of the other group members, CeeLo stood out thanks to his unique ability to combine rapping and singing together. Songs like “Cell Therapy” off their debut album “Soul Food” brought many eyes to the talented artist who would soon strike out on his own.
CeeLo Strikes Out on His Own
Two years after the turn of the century, Green embarked on a solo career, saying a temporary goodbye to his Goodie Mob crew. Unfortunately for him, his 2002 album “Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections” wouldn’t make too many waves in the industry. But it was only one step closer to what would be his breakout moment just a few years later.
Goodbye CeeLo, Hello Gnarls Barkley
In 2006, Green would somewhat “rebrand” into his other musical persona, Gnarls Barkely and release the hit single, “Crazy.” With a music video that seemed to be as abstract yet intriguing as his new name, the song rose to the top of the charts quickly and earned him a Grammy win for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2007. The song was also nominated for Record of the Year but lost out to The Dixie Chicks.
CeeLo Finds Mainstream Success
Still riding off the high of the highly successful hit, Barkley would switch back to Green and drop yet another song that took over the radio in a massive way: “F*ck You!” or “Forget You,” if you prefer the clean version. The song, much like “Crazy,” became a hit and earned two million plays in less than one week. It also went on to receive nominations for Record and Song of the Year at the 2011 Grammys and ultimately won for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
“The Voice” and A New Reality TV Show
With two Grammy-winning hits under his belt and acclaim from the music industry, Green took on a new gig as one of the original coaches on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2011. He was also gearing up to release his reality TV show, “Cee-Lo Green’s The Good Life” on TBS.
Things Start Going South
Despite his success, cracks began to show. In 2011, after a music reviewer published a negative review of one of his performances, Green took to Twitter to combat it. Defending his performance, he wrote at the time: “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!”
Naturally, his response was met with swift backlash with many labeling his words as homophobic. He would later respond to all the online chatter in a separate post saying apologizing to the gay community and saying that members of his “Team CeeLo” were gay and he meant no harm.
“I’m no bigot or homophobic. [It’s] all a very big misunderstanding.” he said at the time.
CeeLo Faces Felony Charge
That same year, Green was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman. At the time, the woman went out to eat with Green when she claimed he slipped ecstasy in her drink and later “woke up naked in bed in her hotel room with Green.” While Green later admitted to taking the drug, he denied spiking the woman’s drink or sexually assaulting her.
Prosecutors in the case would charge him with giving the woman esctasy but declined to file charges of sexual assault. In 2014, he accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to three years of formal probation, 360 hours of community service and mandatory attendance to 52 alcoholic anonymous/narcotics anonymous meetings.
Career Backlash Ensues
To make matters worse, in the aftermath of his sexual assault case, Green hopped back on social media in an attempt to defend himself. However, those posts did nothing to help his case. In fact, they made him look that much more guilty.
For example, in one post he wrote: “women who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!”
In another, he penned: “If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent.”
And in another post, he said: “So if I TRIED but did NOT succeed but the person said I DID then what really happened?”
Needless to say, due to all the drama, he was booted off of “The Voice” and his reality show was swiftly canceled. Green essentially went off the grid and has been quiet ever since.
Goodie Mob Bows Out
Over 10 years later, Green would pop out here and there. But his biggest news following the scandal came earlier this year when he announced in May that Goodie Mob would be officially retiring.
“This is @goodiemob ‘s 30th year anniversary if you didn’t know, yet I am also going to announce for the first time this will be our #farewell,” he wrote in part in a post to Instagram. “The fans know that we’ve gone through a great deal together so ,for no reasons in particular let’s just call it ‘natural causes’ and we all agree that it’s #time we are about to work on a farewell album and tour God willing.”
Resurgence on TikTok
While Green has mostly stayed out of the spotlight, in 2023, he became somewhat of household name thanks to the “CeeLogreen Challenge” on TikTok. The dance was inspired by his 2004 song “I’ll Be Around” with Timbaland. The singer and rapper himself even partook in the challenge, posting his own video to the popular platform.
Death Hoax, But Career May Be Coming Back to Life
Fast forward to August 2025 and the “Crazy” singer had to debunk crazy allegations of his own. This time around, it involved his alleged death which became viral thanks to an unsubstantiated Facebook post. Thankfully, he and his team were able to disprove the post. On the television front, there have also been reports of him returning to “The Voice” in 2026, but in a limited role.
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