Cee Lo Green dropped from concert line-up over rape tweets

Singer/rapper Cee Lo Green has been cut from the line-up for an upcoming concert in Washington, D.C. following his controversial comments on rape.

The Forget You hitmaker sparked outrage on Monday (01Sep14) by posting a series of Twitter.com comments implying women who are unconscious during a sexual assault cannot call it rape.

The tweet came just days after Green pleaded no contest to a felony count of sharing ecstasy with an ex-girlfriend, who had accused him of slipping her the drug during a dinner date in 2012 and then having sex with her. A charge of sexual assault against Green had previously been dropped due to a lack of evidence.

The singer temporarily deactivated his Twitter account after a fan backlash, but he returned to the site on Tuesday (02Sep14) and issued an apology for his remarks, branding them "idiotic, untrue and not what I believe".

However, the grovelling apology was not enough for organizers behind the 20 September (14) U.S. Navy-sponsored show and on Friday (05Sep14), he was officially dropped from the event.

A statement released by Freedom LIVE bosses reads: "Unfortunately, one of the performers we signed for the JBAB Freedom Live show on 20 September 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."

Country stars Little Big Town are still scheduled to hit the stage at the show, while a replacement for Green is due to be announced shortly.