CeeLo Green has just been dropped from the United States Navy-sponsored Freedom Live concert scheduled for Sept. 20 in Washington, D.C. following his shameful comments about rape last month, Billboard reported.
On Thursday, Sept. 4, Naval District Washington (NDW) announced via the concert's official Facebook page that the 40-year-old R&B singer would no longer be part of the event, which will be held at the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
"We seek a Department-wide culture of gender dignity and respect where sexual assault is completely eliminated and never tolerated, where sexual assault victims receive compassionate and coordinated support, and where offenders are held appropriately accountable," read the introduction of the announcement.
"Unfortunately, one of the performers we signed for the JBAB Freedom Live show recently posted comments on social media that we consider to completely inconsistent with Navy core values. Regardless of intent or context, the lack of sensitivity towards an issue that is one of the great challenges facing our Navy is unacceptable. As a result, we have made the decision to pull CeeLo Green from the Freedom Live event," NDW said in the notice.
NDW added that it understands that some have purchased tickets to see the former "The Voice" coach, so they are giving full refund to those who are no longer interested in going to the concert.
Little Big Town, the main attraction for the event, will still perform as planned. NDW said it will announce a replacement opening act of high caliber as soon as possible.
On Aug. 31, Green took to Twitter to make an attempt to define what rape is, two days after pleading no contest for charges that he furnished ecstasy to a woman during a 2012 dinner in Los Angeles.
"If someone is passed out they're not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent," he tweeted, according to BuzzFeed, adding, "People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!"
The said woman had initially filed a police report accusing Green of sexual assault, but prosecutors said there was no enough evidence to charge the singer with rape of an intoxicated person, so the felony sexual assault charge was rejected, according to Reuters.
Green's lawyer Blair Berk previously described any physical contact between the woman and his client as "consensual," New York Daily News reported.