Cee Lo Green Explains Antigay Tweet

Musician Cee Lo Green, a judge on NBC's popular competition program The Voice, says he doesn't have negative feelings toward gay people even though he sent a tweet that many consider homophobic, reports Us magazine.

After Green performed with Rihanna last Thursday in Minneapolis, he sent a tweet in response to Andrea Swenson, a local music reviewer who was critical of his performance. Green presumed Swenson was a gay male. "I respect your criticism, but be fair!" Green tweeted. "People enjoyed last night! I'm guessing you're gay? And my masculinity offended you? Well f*** you!"

Green has since deleted the message from his Twitter account and now tells Us, "She was very critical of me. At the time I didn't even know what gender the person was. I was being a little outspoken that night, a little outrageous. I always expect people to assume that everything I do is part of my character and sense of humor. I assumed that whoever it was would assume it was all in good fun. It wasn't taken so well, apparently."

Green is adamant that he is not homophobic. "I most certainly am not harboring any sort of negative feeling toward the gay community," he tells Us. "I don't have an opinion on people with different religious, sexual or political preferences. I'm one of the most liberal artists that I think you will ever meet, and I pride myself on that. Two of the remaining members that I have on my team on The Voice are proud and outspokenly gay. We just did a team performance of 'Everyday People,' and I picked that song for us to do specifically to highlight how we can get along even though we're so different."