CeeLo Green was the butt of many jokes earlier this year after a mishap that occurred with a horse, but, according to the Atlanta-born singer, things could have been a lot worse.
It all went down on March 22, at a posthumous birthday party Green hosted for fellow Atlanta legend and rapper Shawty Lo. Green celebrated his deceased friend’s birthday by entering the party while riding a horse as Lil Baby’s “Freestyle” played in the background.
The spectacular entrance went bad as the horse’s hooves did not have good traction on the nightclub’s dance floor. The animal slipped multiple times and became so unstable that Green intended to jump off, but he toppled off the horse. The singer landed on his back and seemingly tried to save face as he rolled up onto his feet.
At the time viewers roasted Green’s tumble, offering quips like “Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.” Others who saw the clip were more worried about the animal and the unsafe environment the horse was in. One person said, “I don’t think a single person in this club understands how easy it is to startle a horse the lights flashing in a room like that is a lot already.”
Many questioned how the whole incident went down, and the “Bright Lights Bigger City” singer finally told his side of the story during an exclusive interview with Atlanta Black Star. Green said that he came up with the idea to ride in on a horse after he found out the venue was big enough for a car to enter.
The singer said it could have turned into a “very serious situation,” noting that everyone agreed to do the stunt, but no one considered that the “environment may not be conducive to livestock.”
“I just thought that it was some country boy stuff to do,” he shared. “Instead of doing a car, I’mma come in on a horse.”
The Gnarls Barkley vocalist had arrived after the party had already started, so after a quick test run on the horse outside of the venue, he told the horse’s handlers to let him inside. Green said that his insistence to enter the party may have caused the handlers to overlook precautionary measures like whether the floor was clean or if everything at the party was stable.
Ceelo Green falling off a HORSE in the CLUB at Shawty Lo’s Bday party can ONLY happen in ATLANTA 😂.
— BRE (@brethawriter) March 26, 2023
He said when he entered the party, the floor was “too slippery” for the horse. After that, “I just remember leaning down and asking the trainer, ‘Should I jump off?’ he said, ‘Yes sir.’” Green believes he might have waited too long as he tried to find the right moment to dismount.
The 48-year-old said after the horse slipped again he knew he was going to fall.
“I was already in a position to dismount,” the singer recalled before sharing that he “rolled back” to get a safe distance away from the horse so he wouldn’t get hurt.
Green is thankful neither he, the horse, nor any other partygoers were hurt during the incident. He said that he never meant to put “anybody in harm’s way” but he wanted his friend Shawty Lo’s tribute to be special. Shawty Lo died in a car crash in 2016 at age 40.
