Cee Lo Green Pleads Not Guilty To Slipping His Date Ecstasy

After a lengthy investigation, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has decided to officially charge The Voice star Cee Lo Green with slipping a woman ecstasy while the two were on a date last summer. Yesterday, the thirty-eight-year-old singer appeared in court for his arraignment. He formally pled not guilty and later posted $30,000 bond. He’s due back in court on November 20 to answer the charge against him. If convicted, he could spend up to four years in jail, but given the allegations against him, it could have been far worse.

The date in question happened last July. Green and the victim were out to dinner when he allegedly slipped ecstasy into her meal. The unidentified victim claims to have woken up the next morning in her hotel room completely naked. She later told police she was sexually assaulted, an allegation the singer has vehemently denied both publically and privately.

Police interviewed numerous people working at the restaurant and spent months going over the facts of the case. Ultimately, the District Attorney didn’t find enough evidence to move forward on any charges related to the supposed rape, but apparently, they feel pretty good about the drugging allegation. Still, Green’s defense team is already spinning the dropped charge as a big victory, which it is.

Here’s what attorney Blair Berk told CNN

"Mr. Green encouraged a full and complete investigation of those claims, and he was confident once conducted, he would be cleared of having any wrongful intent and it would be established that any relations were consensual. CeeLo had faith that if the true facts were known, the district attorney would reject those charges."

Thus far, NBC has taken a wait and see approach when it comes to Green and this lingering case. As a popular judge on The Voice, NBC clearly wants to keep him around. As such, the network has steadfastly refused to comment. As a large company concerned about its public image, however, it’s very possible producers may cave if the general public starts turning against him (a la Paula Deen) or he admits the charges (a la Fred Willard).

We’ll keep you updated on this case as it moves forward.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.