Cee Lo Green is known as music’s funky wild child, but apparently he used to be a wild beast at home. A new report reveals a little known arrest in which the soul singer allegedly threatened his then-wife, Christina Johnson.
According to RadarOnline, Cee Lo was arrested in July 2001 after a heated argument with his wife in which he smashed the windows of their Jaguar with a wooden statue. Fearful, Johnson placed a call to Fayette County, Ga., police.
Police arrested Cee Lo two days later on misdemeanor charges of “simple assault (family violence)” and “disorderly conduct” and he was released the same day on $2,800 bail.
After months as a free man, Cee Lo was taken back into custody on Sept. 26, 2001, after he failed to appear at his court arraignment two days earlier.
Cee Lo spent two days in jail and pled no contest to the single charge of disorderly conduct. He was then sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to undergo domestic violence counseling and random drug and alcohol testing.
In 2002, Johnson described Cee Lo as “a really good man with a sweet heart.” But just two years later, she filed for divorce, citing “mental and physical cruelty” from her husband.
Johnson requested sole physical custody of their son, Kingston, to which Cee Lo agreed. He was, however, awarded visitation rights, but “only upon completion of a psychiatric evaluation.”
After all of the controversy, Cee Lo now says that he’s calmed down and become a more peaceful man instead of the wild beast he once was.
“I was saved through my association with music,” he said. “Music truly did calm a savage beast.”
Well, we’re glad Cee Lo has turned over a new leaf and is now leading a more positive life. And like him, below are some more hip-hop stars who’ve tamed their inner beasts as well. –nicholas robinson
