Breaking News: Wyclef Jean Hospitalized / Wyclef Jean leaves Haiti politics to promote album / Wyclef Jean: Sean Penn ‘Too Busy Sniffing Cocaine’ To See Me In Haiti and FIRES a SHOT at Pras For Critic

Hip-hop performer Wyclef Jean, who recently failed in his bid for the Haitian presidency, has been hospitalized for stress.

A spokesperson for Jean announced on Monday that the rapper, producer and outspoken Haitian activist checked into a hospital in an undisclosed location over the weekend.

He is "suffering from stress and fatigue based on the gruelling eight weeks he's had," said his representative, Marian Salzman.

Jean, who is slated to release a new album in February and launch a corresponding world tour, made headlines this summer when he confirmed rumours that he was running for president of Haiti, where he was born.

However, Jean — whose family moved to New York when he was nine and who is currently based in New Jersey — was ultimately deemed ineligible because he did not meet residency requirements.

Though the former Fugees rapper attempted to appeal the electoral council's disqualification of his bid, he officially withdrew his candidacy last week. Jean, who is one of his country's best-known advocates and champions, reported being targeted with threats during his brief bid.

"This was not an easy conclusion to reach," Jean said at the time, "but it is one that was thoughtfully made, taking into account many, many competing factors."

According to Salzman, Jean plans to "take it easy" and is expected to be released later this week.

Source: CBC

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Wyclef Jean has officially ended his bid for Haiti's presidency.

A statement sent yesterday by his publicist says the singer is leaving Haitian politics to promote a new album.

Jean's candidacy ended last month when the Caribbean country's eight-member provisional electoral council left him and more than a dozen other hopefuls off the ballot. Nineteen candidates were approved.

No official reasons were given for the exclusions. Jean is presumed not to have met constitutional requirements including living in Haiti. He lives in New Jersey.

The announcement ends speculation the singer would contest the disqualification, though the council does not allow appeals.

The election is slated for November 28.

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Wyclef Jean lashed out at Sean Penn at a concert in New York on Friday after the actor criticized his bid for President of Haiti.

Sean Penn has one more critic to contend with.

At a concert in New York on Friday, Wyclef Jean suggested the actor’s recreational drug use led to him criticizing the singer’s presidential bid in Haiti, mtv.com reports.

Penn told Larry King last month that he worried the singer’s campaign was simply “about a vision of flying around the world, talking to people.”

He later penned a column for the Huffington Post criticizing the singer for being absent after the January earthquake in Haiti.

“None among us felt or expressed anger toward it, but rather a universal sadness for his silence, as he is America’s most admired cultural link to Haiti,” the actor wrote.

Jean lashed out at Penn’s diatribe while performing his 2004 hit “President” at Hot 97’s On the Reggae Trip last week.

“I got a message for Sean Penn: Maybe he ain’t see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine,” he sang.

Wyclef Jean may not be president but he's got some high-profile critics.
When the singer and musician launched a highly-publicized bid for president of Haiti in August he had a lot of support, but also some very vocal detractors — namely actor and fellow activist Sean Penn and Jean's former Fugees bandmate Pras. Both stars publicly questioned 'Clef's political credentials and at a New York City on Friday, Jean lashed out against the critics.

Jean sang at Hot 97's On The Reggae Tip concert, switching up the lyrics to his 2004 song "President." "I got a message for Praswell, even though you don't want to support me, I got love for you, even though you only kicked 8 bars in the Fugees." A few weeks after announcing his plans for the presidency, Jean was declared ineligible to run by Haitian electoral officials.

Wyclef's lyrics are the latest swipes in a series of public comments between the musician and Penn and Pras. When Jean spoke about his plans to run for Haiti's head of state on CNN, Penn, who was also a guest on the show, expressed his concerns about the singer's motivations for seeking political office.

"Right now, I worry that this is a campaign that is more about a vision of flying around the world, talking to people. It's certainly not one of the youth drafting him. I would be quite sure that this is an influence of corporations here in the United States and private individuals that may well have capitalized on his will to see himself flying around the world," Penn said. The actor also wrote in a Huffington Post column that despite Jean's public support for the island nation, the MC wasn't around during critical moments after Haiti's devastating January earthquake.

"I was there for those six months after the earthquake and so many of us on the ground wondered where he was when that kind of attention was so necessary and absent, and why he was NOT helping to keep this desperate situation in the news," he wrote. "None among us felt or expressed anger toward it, but rather a universal sadness for his silence, as he is America's most admired cultural link to Haiti."

Pras questioned 'Clef proposed strategy -- or lack thereof -- for revitalizing the country after the distaster.

"He talks about health care, he talks about education, he talks about infrastructure," Pras told MTV News last month. "But that's in any society. That's right here in America, we need that. But how are you gonna get to that point? There's a short-term goal that needs to be addressed and there's a long-term goal. To be honest with you, the short term is probably more important than the long term. And he didn't even mention the short term." mtv.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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