Legendary Hot 97 DJ Mister Cee found himself in hot water after new allegations surfaced that he had tried to solicit sex acts from a drag queen.
Yesterday, audio of the DJ — whose real name is Calvin Lebrun — trying to solicit unspecified sex acts from someone he thought was a prostitute was uploaded to YouTube by the drag queen in question — a male "internet personality" who goes by the name Bimbo Winehouse.
In the video, Bimbo Winehouse says that though he's not a prostitute, he was picked up by Cee while in drag, who gave him $100 for sex acts that he ultimately did not deliver. This marks the fourth prostitution-related incident for which the DJ has been publicly caught.
In his final mid-day show, Cee announced his reasons for leaving:
"I went through a lot in the past two years with certain situations that I've been through and I have tried to rise above those situations. I have tried to move forward from the situations that I've been through. And unfortunately, every time I tried to move forward, it's like I take one step forward and then two steps back. And I'm hurting the people that are closest to me, which is my Hot 97 family.
But he clarified that he was not leaving because of any pressure from the station:
"Anybody that knows me, knows that I love doing this radio thing," he continued. "I've been here at Hot 97 since 1993 and I live, breath, sleep radio. And the last thing that I want to do is hurt the Hot 97 family. So I have decided, not Ebro [Hot 97 Program Director], not management, nobody. Me, Mister Cee, I have decided that it's time for me to move one. And it's time for me to take time out for myself to take care of myself."
Following Cee's resignation, Hot 97 issued a statement regarding Cee's departure:
"Due to some personal circumstances that have become public, after 20 years of service, Mister Cee has chosen to resign. We feel that this is in the best interest of both HOT 97 and Cee's personal well-being. While we do not endorse the alleged activities, he is clearly facing a personal dilemma that is for him and only him to comment on. We are saddened by his departure; his contributions here at HOT 97 were great and we know him as a friend, a caring individual and significant hip hop advocate. We wish Mr Cee the best and will always consider him a family member of HOT 97.
Moments ago, he officially signed off, on the air and will finish out his last show today on September 11, 2013, an already sad day for New York City."
- Alexandra Cameron, SVP/General Manager of HOT97
This morning, Cee appeared on the Morning Show to talk about his resignation and situation in an emotional, tearful interview with Hot 97 program director Ebro Darden.
Cee first copped to an "addiction to instant gratification" earlier this year, following his arrest soliciting a male prostitute in Brooklyn, who turned out to be an undercover cop. Cee has been arrested three times on solicitation charges, and in an interview following his arrest in May, he sat down with his fellow Hot 97 DJs to clear the air. He revealed that he had an addiction to prostitutes and strippers, and was getting help by going to therapy.
In this morning's emotional interview, Cee had to confront his problem again. Cee said he felt he'd let a lot of people down and did not want to lose the station sponsors or money, adding, "I'm tried of trying to do something or be something that I'm not. I'm tired."
Cee revealed that he had been cleaning up his act since his arrest in May, and claimed he had not engaged in illegal activity since the beginning of the year.
Darden told Cee that the station would stand behind him in getting help, and urged Cee to be honest and accepting of himself, no matter what his sexual orientation or preference, adding that the station was behind his decision, but Cee was insistent that he was not gay, though he has gotten "fellatio from transvestites."
"My whole dilemma has always been, am I still going to be looked at the same way?" Cee asked.
"Absolutely, you will," Darden responded, as Cee began to cry. "Absolutely, man, you're a legend, my man. I do believe people just wanted you to be honest, and I appreciate you, man. The people listening appreciate you."
"My whole fear in this whole thing is my family. I don't talk about my family that much, but my whole thing is making sure my family is going to be all right," Cee said.
Cee said that while he doesn't necessarily see his actions as a problem, he sees the effects of his actions as a problem, like its impact on his family.
"You do understand that on the prostitution side of things, this is a crime," Darden said. "That's the only thing that we're worried about. That is a crime; outside of that, it doesn't matter. Your private life is your private life."
“I know that I’m still in denial, because I know that I love women," Cee said. "...but occasionally I get the urge to have fellatio with a transsexual, a man that looks like a woman."
"And then I'm sitting here and saying 'I'm not gay' because I haven't penetrated another man..." Cee said.
"You don't ever have to apologize for who you are," Darden said, urging the DJ to come back to the station.
By noon, it was announced that Mister Cee was not resigning after all, and he was back at his regular 12 p.m. slot for an especially empowering mix.
"In case you missed The Morning Show interview with Mister Cee this morning, we are ecstatic to inform you that Mister Cee will not be resigning," Hot 97 reported. "Although he will ALWAYS be part of the Hot 97 family, we much rather him in that studio every day at 12 noon!"
Cee's "return" mix was a collection of awesome "don't let the haters keep you down" jams, including Janet Jackson's "Doesn't Really Matter," Nas' "Hate Me Now," and Sly and the Family Stone's "You Can Make It If You Try." He rounded out his hour-long set with J. Cole and Missy Elliott's aptly-titled "Nobody's Perfect."