Mister Cee has watched the details of his personal life become tabloid fodder over the past few months, and on Wednesday morning (September 11), “The Finisher” announced his official resignation on New York City’s Hot 97 radio station, with an emotional speech and a farewell set.
The legendary DJ, born Calvin Lebrun, played a major role in the careers of the Notorious B.I.G. and Big Daddy Kane during his reign, but this morning, he told listeners that it was simply time to move on.
In May, he publicly addressed accusations of soliciting an undercover cop who posed as a prostitute, saying that some of the details were blown out of proportion, and Wednesday’s resignation came after new prostitution allegations made their way to the Internet via an audio clip.
“[Today is] my last time being on the air on hot 97, yours truly Mister Cee,” he began the emotional announcement, over Biggie’s “Hypnotize” instrumental. “I am officially resigning from Hot 97 today. I went through a lot in the past two years and I’ve tried to rise above those situations, I have tried to move forward from these situations and unfortunately every time I try to move forward, it’s like I take one step forward and then two steps back, and I’m hurting the people who are closest to me, which is my Hot 97 fam.”
Though Cee didn’t spell out the details, it was clear that he was addressing the much publicized prostitution scandals.
“Everybody knows I love doing this radio thing. I’ve been at Hot 97 since 1993 and I live, breathe, sleep radio. The last thing that I wanna do is hurt the Hot 97 family, so I have decided — not Ebro, not management, nobody, but me Mister Cee — I have decided that it’s time for me to move on and it’s time for me to take time out to take care of myself.”
“There are a lot of situations where when I try to do what I think is the right thing, a setback happens, and the last thing I wanna do is hurt this station, so today is my last day on Hot 97.”
“I am good, I am safe, I am happy, I am blessed, but in reality I knew that this day would come. Whether it was because of the mistakes I’ve made in the past or whether it was just time for me to move on, I knew that at some point, this day was going to come, and so the day has finally come where Mister Cee has to move on. It comes a time when you have to be a realist and understand that what do you affects others, and you don’t wanna hurt the people that you love and I love this station. I love Hot 97,” he said before getting choked up and quickly cutting to Jay Z.
Cee emphasized that management had nothing to do with his decision, and Hot 97’s general manager Alexandra Cameron issued a statement shortly after his resignation.
“Due to some personal circumstances that have become public, after 20 years of service, Mr Cee has chosen to resign. We feel that this is in the best interest of both HOT 97 and Cee’s personal well-being,” Cameron said. “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.”
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