Cee Lo Green has assured his fans he’s fine after fake footage showing a cellphone exploding in his face circulated on social media.
Green took to Facebook Live on Saturday after a surveillance-style clip showing him collapsing to the floor after his phone burst into flames went viral.
“I just want to let everybody know that I am alive, and I’m well and I’m OK,” Cee Lo said. “Truthfully, I’m really upset that anybody had to be emotionally disturbed by what they saw today.”
The black and white video was reportedly posted by rapper Philly Chase on Instagram on Saturday, showing what appeared to be video from inside a music studio and Cee Lo sitting at a chair.
After several people leave, the singer is then seen picking up a cellphone and chatting on it while swivelling in the chair before a bright explosion, causing him to collapse to the ground.
According to the star, the footage was just part of a new music project he’s been working on.
“Actually, 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. It’s supposed to set up and introduce the new character identity, you know what I’m saying?” Cee Lo explained on Facebook.
“I’m still gonna release the music, though,” he added. “But first and foremost, for everybody that love me and care about me, I just want to say that I’m OK… I just want to thank everybody for their love and support and concern.”
Rapper Chase, who was the first to share the fake clip, told BuzzFeed News he was sent the video by anonymous text on Saturday morning. He said he was not and had not been working with Cee Lo on any projects, and said he was not involved in the creation of the video.
Though the footage was fake, concerned fans thought Cee Lo, real name Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, was the victim of the faulty Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge phone, that has been recalled after customers reported it was exploding.
In October the company announced production of the phone would cease permanently, with millions of users being ordered to return them.
