Cee Lo Green has apologized - sort of - for a shocking series of tweets that he fired off earlier this week, on the subject of rape. The singer, who seemed to suggest in his comments that having sex with someone who is unconscious is not rape, issued a statement Tuesday night via the social network. In it he said: “I truly and deeply apologize for the comments attributed to me. Those comments were idiotic, untrue and not what I believe.”

Green’s choice of words; “Comments attributed to me,” has a lot of people scratching their heads. Is the singer suggesting that the comments did not actually come from him?  Did he phrase it this way to avoid potential legal liability? Or does he just really need a new publicist?

Green’s bizarre meltdown began this weekend, after he pleaded no contest to charges of possession stemming from a court case in which he gave a woman ecstasy without her knowledge in 2012. Despite the fact that the woman woke up in bed next to him with no memory of what happened the night before, the singer was not charged with sexual assault, due to lack of evidence. After receiving a number of angry tweets regarding the case, Green took to the platform to defend himself, and that’s when things went downhill.

Green’s long series of tweets on Monday included one in which he insisted, bafflingly, “If someone is passed out, they’re not even WITH you consciously! So WITH implies consent,” followed by “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!” Naturally, the singer’s comments were met with massive backlash. Flailing, Green sent out one more tweet that night, in which he apologized for his comments “being taken out of context,” before deactivating his account altogether. 

On Tuesday night, the singer reactivated his account, and issued his latest attempt at a proper apology. Unsurprisingly, it was not well received. In addition to evading responsibility, the comment came across to many as a weak attempt at damage control. Amidst this scandal, TBS announced that it was canceling Green’s reality show, “The Good Life” (though the network cited low ratings, and not his comments, as the reason). At this point it seems unlikely that Green can ever fully repair his reputation, but a decent apology might be a good first step.