Cee-Lo flips bird, drops F-bomb at Obama fundraiser
AP photo
Cee-Lo Green’s infectious chart-topping song “(Blank) You” can’t be played in its original form on FM stations and it can’t be quoted exactly in a family newspaper. But it can be played at a presidential fundraiser, evidently.
Here’s a link to a video clip of Green dropping the F-bomb and giving the one-finger salute during a Friday fundraiser in Atlanta for President Barack Obama. Obama had a number of fundraising stops here that day, and was not present during Green’s time on stage. The AJC did have a reporter at the event but he also did not witness the performance as reporters were held in a separate location at the time. A pool reporter who was granted access to the room said he was not close enough to the stage to hear clearly.
The video clip is pretty clear, though. On commercial airwaves Green’s song has been rendered into the more family-friendly “Forget You,” but the clip shows him launching into the unedited version.
The artist exuberantly previewed his performance ahead of time, tweeting: “ATL is FIRED UP for President Barack Obama tonight! I’m performing, Tyler Perry (is) hosting. You in for #Obama2012?”
But after his unedited version of the song, a fellow tweeter scolded, ”You have no class at all, very disrespectful tonight. #TheVoice should be ashamed of you right now.”
(Green’s repertoire now includes a role on the reality show “The Voice.”)
Green tweeted in response, “Well (they’re) not!” and added, “it was a mistake sir.” But he didn’t seem too broken up, going on to tweet, “All of you heard the song a thousand times so don’t get all saint on me.”
Green’s Twitter profile photo is a cartoon rendition of him standing strategically in front of his controversial lyrics.
Do you think the performance was in poor taste, or was he simply exercising his First Amendment rights?
- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz
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309 comments Add your comment
Faye
March 19th, 2012
10:57 pm
And look how CLASSY we did it in NYC…Now that’s class…The south full of classless fools with money!
Owen Garcia
March 20th, 2012
3:01 am
The majority of Afro-Americans can’t help themselves and lack self-control.
I am a big Celo fan but I’m disappointed he didn’t use better judgment. And yes I am black, and yes somewhere out there some old racist white dude saying “See I told you so”
Thanks for setting us back a little Celo. With your help, white supremacist can take the day off.
overit
March 20th, 2012
5:19 am
Its C-Lo!!! its jus a song, and if you pay attention, right after he flipped the bird, he looks to the rigjt of him and ask ” can I cuss”? someone approved… everyone has heard the song befkre, it WAS NOT doirected toward Obama personally… grow up!!!
tenn.DAWG
March 20th, 2012
5:53 am
I feel the same way about Obama,Ceelo just said what most people feel about the job he’s doing.Don’t condone that behavior,but I understand.
falcon60
March 20th, 2012
5:58 am
People “be” adults? Evidently you don’t have a high regard for education either pw.
joeybiten
March 20th, 2012
6:05 am
seems like he just voiced what obamas been saying to the entire U.S. .. f…k you.
billybob
March 20th, 2012
6:09 am
this kind of talk (no matter what you think of the President). black men fathering multiple children by multiple wives (and not supporting them), having to hold their pants up when walking, putting their hats on “cockeyed”….. just some examples on how not to earn respect. too bad, the african american establishment cannot do something positive about this type behaviour.
guy
March 20th, 2012
6:28 am
This is typical behavior of people with angry at the world problems.There are those who are worse than others.obama is that way too as he is bitter and has an agenda.You can call it racism,I call it realism.It is what it is,always has been,and always will be!War on the inside will always lead to war on the outside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RT77
March 20th, 2012
6:35 am
Healthcare is a BFD!
RT77
March 20th, 2012
6:41 am
Don’t forget people, The Right wants us to believe that a President who wants to ensure medical coverage for all in this country wants to harm us. They also want us to believe that all of the debt and economical woes fell down upon us from the sky the day after Obama was sworn in as President. I guess even they want to forget the George W years the same way he wanted to forget New Orleans after Katrina.
Jack
March 20th, 2012
7:01 am
This kind of behavior is what to expect when his kind of trash is promoted.
Hussein
March 20th, 2012
7:13 am
This is a perfect example of the current office holder’s supporters and constituency. This is the left’s definition and standard of “civility”. Let’s not hide it…bring it out into the light of day for all to see and experience.
geez
March 20th, 2012
7:19 am
Just another punk, with no vocabulary.
wtf?
March 20th, 2012
7:20 am
People pay for this s$@t?
The Great and Powerful Community Organizer
March 20th, 2012
7:23 am
This is the kind of crap that votes for ME!
C-low
March 20th, 2012
7:26 am
I’m a piece of garbage scum..jus wanted to make sure everbody knowed it.
This Prez is a joke, soooo
March 20th, 2012
7:35 am
it’s only appropriate the entertainment is too.
Who cares
March 20th, 2012
7:54 am
Still do not understand the fascination with this guy? He has no talent and his ONE song is aweful. paltrow version of it on Glee should have gotten the credit on “Forget You” so much better. Everthing this guy does from his screw up on NYE to this event shows someone is pushing him into the limelight. He doesn’t deserve the attention he is getting. As for the show The Voice a total made up show where phone calls got people on the show not REAL auditions. The AJC doesn’t even give it notice as it reports on Idol every week. The only benefit the voice does is give attention to the four judges. Does nothing for the “last chance” talent that goes on there. Cee lo let’s all take the advice of your ONE hit song and that’s on BOTH versions when it comes to you.
Stevcue
March 20th, 2012
8:02 am
ONCE AGAIN AJC….THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO BRING OUT ALL RACIST IN GEORGIA. I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU STILL HAVE THIS POSTED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF AJC.COM. THIS IS WHY I CANCELED MY SUBSCRITPTION WITH AJC HOME DELIEVERY. I HOPE OTHERS SEE THIS AS A PATTERN WITH THE AJC.
sassy
March 20th, 2012
8:23 am
Freedom of speech! Obama bald faced lies. At least Cee-Lo had the balls to say what he wanted to say.
We have no rights left in this country as it is…Definition of the USA would be greed and corruption.
Dontneedtoknow
March 20th, 2012
8:23 am
Please stop all you all of a sudden saints! I bet you have done things that you shouldn’t , but because you’re not in the public eye it’s ok? Think before you judge! It was a show as any other and we all knew the song so what are ya’ll talking about! Seems as if all the important ppl didn’t hear or see it anyways!
georgiasouthernalum
March 20th, 2012
8:43 am
Its just another reason to bring back Gen. Sherman to Atlanta to finish the job! Obama out in 2012!
Ya Know
March 20th, 2012
8:51 am
Just because you CAN say something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD say something. There are times when discretion is the better part of valor. He should have performed the radio edit or put the mic toward the audience to let them say whatever lyric they wanted to say.
georgiasouthernalum
March 20th, 2012
8:52 am
P.S.
I hope Obama keeps this type of things up so he will be out of job! That’s a real good way to get a state to vote for him…..not..no way…forget
SONYA
March 20th, 2012
9:06 am
First of all Cee Lo or whatever he go by. I never thought much of him anyway, and this just sums it up. He is just a little fat boy on some commercial with a 7- up sounding like a cat! I just have much respect for Tyler Perry and even more for our president. And then here comes the pilsbury doughboy and screw it up! Thanks Elmer Fudd!!
Trayvon's Auntie
March 20th, 2012
9:14 am
A 17 year old child was killed in Florida for walking home while black. To debate the sensibility or class of an entertainer throwing up a finger/f-bomb in this racially charged climate is ridiculous. First Caylee’s killer walks away free and now some militant man in Florida avoids arrest. AJC focus on the real picture and let’s save our children’s lives.
Adjust
March 20th, 2012
9:15 am
How many of ya’ll felt like doing whats on ur mind at the wrong time but didnt relize it at the time so stop passing jugement and drop the stone out ur hands and pray for urself as well as cell-lo he grown and hell learn from his mistake. A-town still down. Learn from it and move on. This is 2012 anything can happen.
Dicarlo Dorsey
March 20th, 2012
9:16 am
No people !! Its clearly telling republicans to back off . In a Southern way lol smh.
Adjust
March 20th, 2012
9:20 am
U can tell the hatred and racism in Americans hearts through these post and i bet about 80% of these comment r from none african- american. Check urselves!
carla roqs
March 20th, 2012
9:26 am
trying to break a record, jennifer? @Bernie Mac March 19th, 2012 10:31 pm– i feel your pain. everyone else, this is as ridiculous as bringing bernie back from beyond.
WTF
March 20th, 2012
9:45 am
Heck, I shout the F-bomb and point my middle finger at the tv constantly when I here the lies that Newt, Rick and Mitty spew about our duly elected President.
sassy
March 20th, 2012
9:51 am
Americans have been duped for years. Farmers are paid to keep their fields empty. All of our corn, good produce, good fruit, good meat goes out of the country and we eat the crap they bring in. What good is all the hoopla about FDA approved and doesn’t have this or that chemical? We ship that stuff out. Who knows what’s on the stuff they import. No pride in workmanship in this country. No steel mills, no industry left. The rich get richer, the poor and lazy suck off the system and that leaves the low middle class (doubt there is a true middle anymore) pay for it all. Obama won the vote because it was a “get in a black president” thing. I am NOT racist and don’t care if the president is purple, but just to vote someone in because he is black???????? And the only reason he got in was because of the asswipes out that that didn’t want a woman. So, whoever voted for Obama should have voted for Hillary. At least she’s true American and has a brain in her head. Obama is nothing but EGO…..think he cares about the country at all? Obviously he doesn’t.
Chuck Allison
March 20th, 2012
10:11 am
I don’t go to Obama functions because I don’t want to see anyone make obscene gestures or use vile language. I remember when Joe Bideon used the “F” word to congratulate Obama after passing the Obmacare fiasco.
alex
March 20th, 2012
10:16 am
It’s ATLANTA, the NEW south, so progressive, …..Sheeesh !!
Let’s be clear for many of you,I am being cynical;for those who went to an APCS, look it up..
Amiela Holt
March 20th, 2012
10:50 am
It was in VERY POOR TASTE…. just no CLASS at all, or respect for President Obama…
Time & Place for Everything, but........................
March 20th, 2012
10:55 am
This was not the place to be behaving so ghetto/trailer trash. There are things you just don’t do at certain places & this was one of them. He could have sung the “CLEAN” version of his song & he could have kept the bird flipping to himself. Isn’t he a father? He’s too old to be acting so immature. Regardless of it being a fundraiser for President Obama or a school dance, there are times when you need to behave yourself accordingly. Maybe he needs to take some of that money he’s making from his hit songs & go to etiquette school & learn a thing or two on how to behave as a gentleman. I like his music & I am for President Obama. People, please stop putting racists & racism in EVERY blog on AJC. There can be a blog about BERT & ERNIE & somehow, some idiot will throw the race card out there. I’m speaking to both black & white people, don’t care about your color, just care about your character.
BADA BING
March 20th, 2012
10:55 am
Cee Lo had to stick to small 4 letter words so the APS educated population could relate.
Bob Olinski
March 20th, 2012
11:03 am
F*** Obama. F*** Cee Lo. And F*** anyone who thinks the left isn’t the home of hatred.
Cee-Low
March 20th, 2012
11:06 am
Cee-Lo is a potatohead who sounds like his tater tots are caught in a vice. He doesn’t deserve this much attention. The bantering about stuff like this is idiotic because they same ones condoning, making excuses or just blowing it off as nothing are the same ones who get bent out of shape when a Conservative or Conservative supporter says or does something equally as dumb. All you have to do is replace the name Cee-Lo with 50-Cent (Republican) and Obama with Bush and every single comment would completely change. The ones knocking Cee-Lo would defend 50-Cent and vice versa. I would love to see a compilation of a top 20 questions presented to each Presidential candidate and have their answer anonymously listed on a sheet one after another. Each person can check the answer they like best and, at the end, it would tally who you preferred. I think it would shock most, but still wouldn’t change who they’re voting for which is sad.
Double"M"
March 20th, 2012
11:10 am
typical !!!!!
Richard
March 20th, 2012
11:10 am
First of all, enough with this overplayed line “exercising First Amendment Rights.” It has no basis here.
The First Amendment doesn’t give you the ability to say whatever you want. It only says that if you want to say something, the government can’t stop you. This fundraiser is for a private entity (Super PAC) which can censor it’s speakers however it wants. If it wants to censor Cee-Lo, fine. If not, that’s their call.
Second of all, Cee-Lo is best known for his song featuring the f-word in the friggin title. He was invited to sing. What did you expect? Anyone choosing to listen to Cee-Lo while getting offended by bad language gets zero sympathy from me. It’s like buying a ticket to see a performance by Lewis Black and getting ticked off that he insulted a politician.
GROW UP!
Read before you post
March 20th, 2012
11:12 am
@Trey – READ THE ARTICLE BEFORE YOU POST. The President was not there.
Time & Place for Everything, but...............
March 20th, 2012
11:15 am
GeorgiaSouthernalum, you along with the other brainwashed idiots out there, don’t want to come to the realization that Bush has DESTROYED AMERICA, EVERYONE HATES US, HE STARTED A WAR WITH A LIE, RUINNED THE ECONOMY, SCHOOL CLOSINGS, TEACHERS FURLOUGHS, HOUSING MARKET CRASHES, LOSS OF JOBS, OWING CHINA $$$$, RICH GOT RICHER AT THE EXPENSE OF THE WORKING CLASS. DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU OR ANYONE THAT IS RICH OR WEALTHY. IT DOESN’T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE THIS OUT & IF YOU BELIEVE THAT NEWT CAN GET THE PRICE OF GAS DOWN TO $2.50 A GALLON, YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS, THE EASTER BUNNY & THE TOOTH FAIRY. WHERE WAS THE $2.50 GAS WHEN BUSH WAS IN OFFICE, OH YEAH, THE PRICE OF GAS SKY ROCKETED WHEN BUSH WAS IN OFFICE & CAUSED PANIC & MAYHEM AT THE PUMPS. Pres. Obama knew he had walked into a firestorm, but he was willing to do what he can to help not Blacks, Whites, Hispanics,but the WORKING CLASS. I have health insurance, but YES it needs to be reformed. It’s just a matter of common sense which shows me ANYONE voting Republican doesn’t seem to have it. Why would you put a party back in office that got us in this mess from the start? Clinton had us with a surplus. All these Republicans want to do Local, State, County & Federal want to do is make their pockets fatter. They don’t care about YOU, ME, YOUR FAMILY, MY FAMILY, ETC. But you people are too stupid to realize it. How PATHETIC.
Not Surprised of IDIOTIC STATEMENTS
March 20th, 2012
11:18 am
@Sassy, I didn’t vote for Obama because he is Black, I voted for him because I KNOW he was the best candidate. I am sure some voted for the Republican candidate because he was white, so where are you going with this?
@BOB ODANGSKI
March 20th, 2012
11:20 am
THE FEELING IS MUTUAL. GET A LIFE!!
kgray
March 20th, 2012
11:39 am
Cee-Lo shouldn’t have said those words at the fundraiser, it was in very poor taste. Most of these blogs listen to Hank Williams Jr. and don’t support President Obama anyway. It wasn’t about Cee-Lo, it was about rasising money for the President’s re-election and the President didn’t hear his song or him making a gesture with his finger. Go Obama 2012!
Larry
March 20th, 2012
11:40 am
Just take a look at this fat glob of goo and tell me anyone is surprised? One can only imagine what he does behind close doors…and with whom!
Sadly, it is this cesspool of electorate nation wide that will get the worst President–since Carter–relected.
And I am a democratic supporter!
Gloria
March 20th, 2012
11:49 am
Extremely poor taste.
Ralph T
March 20th, 2012
12:11 pm
Ceelo is know better than the Senator who call our president a lier on the House Floor. Disrespect
flip
March 20th, 2012
12:20 pm
NO CLASS