Fantasia sings the blues.
“American Idol” Fantasia Barrino left a Charlotte, North Carolina, hospital late Wednesday after two days’ treatment for a drug overdose, a near-fatal combination of aspirin and “a sleep aid.” Barrino overdosed in the wake of discovering a court complaint filed against her by Paula Cook, the estranged wife of Antwaun Cook with whom the singer has been “romantically involved” for nearly a year.
Barrino herself did not speak with the press, but her manager Brian Dickens issued a detailed statement, acknowledging the overdose, the affair, Mrs. Cook’s lawsuit, and the strain of media speculation and innuendo. “She was totally overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention,” the statement said. Dickens stressed that the pop music star “has been lifted-up” by thousands of messages and prayers from devoted fans.
In a remarkable display of candor, Dickens’s statement explained, “Fantasia fell in love with Mr. Cook and believed that he loved her.” Stressing that the affair had been built on Mr. Cook’s long string of lies about the state of his marriage, the statement claimed, “Fantasia believed Mr. Cook when he told her he was not happy in his marriage and his heart was not in it,” Dickens said. “She believed him when he told her he and Mrs. Cook separated in the late summer of 2009. She believed Mr. Cook when he told her he lived elsewhere.” Dickens detailed how Cook encouraged Barrino to believe his cover-stories, taking her to a residence he claimed as his own, and showing no reluctance to be seen and photographed with her in public.
The somewhat unusual lawsuit derives from a rare North Carolina law that allows one of the parties in a divorce case to sue a third person, claiming that third person contributed to alienation of affection. Details of Mrs. Cook’s claims, allegations, and petitions have not been released. “[Fantasia] knows some of the claims in Mrs. Cook’s complaint are totally false,” Dickens’s statement asserted. “There are others she strongly doubts. There is plenty she does not know.”
The second season of Fantasia’s reality television show is set for debut in September, and her latest album, a favorite among music critics, will be available on August 24.
