CeeLo Apologizes For Faking Exploding Cell Phone Video

By Hayden Wright

(RADIO.COM) – A video clip of CeeLo surfaced over the weekend that depicted the musician revolving in a swivel chair, moments before a cell phone exploded in his face and jettisoned him to the ground, unconscious. Though the video went viral, CeeLo later appeared on Facebook to confirm what some suspected: The clip was a fake.

"I just wanna let everybody know that I am alive. I am well," he said. "Truthfully, I'm really upset that anybody had to be emotionally disturbed by what they saw today."

Many fans (and media outlets) believed the video and feared for CeeLo's life. 2016 was the year of the exploding-Samsung headline, so many presumed he was still using one of the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 phones. But despite the legitimate shock and concern, it was just a publicity stunt to introduce a new musical alter-ego, "Gnarly Davidson."

"It's supposed to set up the new character identity, you know what I'm saying," said Green.

"What you saw today was a clip from a smaller video that we were shooting for a new project I'm doing called 'Gnarly Davidson.'"

Watch the original clip here—was CeeLo out-of-line?:

Here's his clarification:

©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved.