Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean alarmed fans this week with a video revealing his first-ever stay in the hospital. The 37-year-old singer, disqualified from running for Haiti’s presidency because he didn’t meet residency requirements, says he’s suffering from “stress and fatigue” after eight weeks of campaigning.
Despite being excluded from the election on legal grounds, Jean has been in Haiti to raise support for Michel Martelly, the former president’s son, who is the leading vote-getter. The two-day vote, which started Friday and ended Sunday, determines the island’s future.
Jean was reportedly shot in the hand late Saturday in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince, and he was taken to a local hospital for treatment. But Vanel Lacroix, the chief of police in Petionville, where Jean is staying, told Reuters that he had just been cut by glass.
He was in a car with a driver but didn’t know who fired the shots. He is in stable condition and was released later on Sunday.
Wyclef Jean has a history of humanitarian activity, founding his charitable organization, the Wyclef Jean Foundation, in 1988. It offers school scholarships to children in Haiti and aids hurricane victims.
After the earthquake in 2004, he launched the Yele Haiti charity, which provides food and other philanthropic aid to the country. He also is big on inspiring the youth through music, as reflected in his song “If I Was President.” Now he’s focusing on a new project: an electric supercar that he hopes to release next year.
