Wyclef Jean nearly lost his music yesterday when he left a restaurant without an iPad packed with some of his new tunes-in-progress.
The Haitian singer and activist was lunching at Brother Jimmy’s on Eighth Avenue in NYC and took off, oblivious that he’d left his iPad on a table. When his server chased Wyclef down and returned the tablet, the ex-Fugees leader “hugged it to his chest,” reports a spy. Jean said, “You saved my day! All my new music was on here!”
Musician Wyclef Jean said Sunday that a bullet grazed his hand as he stepped out of a car to make a telephone call, but he said he was only slightly injured.
Jean, who has been in Haiti helping the presidential campaign of his friend and fellow musician Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly, said the bullet grazed him late Saturday night as he stepped out of his car in the Delmas section of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to make a call on his cellphone.
“The way I can explain it is that the bullet grazed me in my right hand,” Jean told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I heard blow, blow, blow and I just looked at my hand.”
Jean, who was with a driver and the Haitian hip-hop singer FanFan at the time, said he doesn’t know who fired the shots, or whether they were directed at him.
He said he got out of the car to have a private conversation that FanFan would not overhear. He heard the shots and looked down to see blood on his shirt and sneakers.
The Haitian-American performer said he was treated at a local hospital and released. Jean said he was taking antibiotics and recovering at an “undisclosed location” before going out to vote in Sunday’s presidential election.
Jean did not say what hospital treated him. Later, Garry Andre, who handles security for the musician, said it was CitiMed in Petionville. Hospital officials could not be reached immediately and a spokesman for the national police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Later, Jean was asked by reporters to comment on rumors that he had been injured by broken glass, not a bullet. “This is Haiti, it’s a city of rumors,” he said as he went to vote. “There’s another one with me and Busta Rhymes in the car.”
A new elastic bandage covered a portion of Jean’s right hand, which he used to cast his ballot.
Jean, a native of Haiti who rocketed to fame as a member of the hip-hop trio The Fugees, came to Haiti to support Martelly, who faces university administrator and former first lady Mirlande Manigat.
Jean had initially sought to be a candidate in the race but Haiti’s electoral council disqualified him from the ballot because he didn’t meet residency requirements. He has actively campaigned for Martelly, most recently joining him in a concert Thursday in downtown Port-au-Prince that drew thousands of spectators.
“We are happy that Wyclef is OK but we continue to pray for him and for a peaceful and fair election today in Haiti,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has worked with Jean on educational issues and bringing aid to Haiti after the devastating January 2010 earthquake, said in a statement.
The statement also quoted Jimmy Rosemond, a music manager said to be accompanying Jean on his current trip to Haiti.
“It is clear that enemies of progressive change in Haiti are behind the shooting of Wyclef – those that don’t want to accept that a monumental change is inevitable for the betterment of the Haitian people,” Rosemond said. “This incident will not deter those of us that see the election as crucial to the country’s future.”
Rival Haiti relief workers Sean Penn and Wyclef Jean were involved in a tense confrontation at a top New York music venue after trading a series of bitter public insults.
Penn and Wyclef have been at each other’s throats after Penn criticized Wyclef’s ill-fated bid to become president of Haiti, blasted him as a “personality that threatens to create a new swell of social unrest in a plagued country” and accused him of deserting the country when it most needed help.
The former Fugee then lashed back by saying: “I got a message for Sean Penn: Maybe he ain’t see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine.”
Penn’s rep shot back at Jean’s comments as “highly irresponsible and false.”
But Penn and Wyclef bumped into each other at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in Times Square early Saturday morning after they arrived separately to see Haitian band T-Vice, and locked themselves in a backstage dressing room for a 30-minute argument before emerging, having made peace.
A source told us: “They were both in the venue, and when they saw each other at around 1 a.m., they started a confrontation. Things seemed pretty tense, and everyone around them was nervous. They then asked staff if they could go somewhere private, so they were led into a dressing room backstage where they could be alone and shut the door.
They weren’t yelling and screaming, but they had it out and aired their differences for 30 minutes. When they came out they hugged each other, they went onstage and stood side-by-side.”
Drink in hand, Penn then took the mike and gestured at Wyclef and Michel Martelly, who is running for president of Haiti and urged the crowd to support them. He said: “In Haiti, we have got an opportunity as Americans whether you are from Haitian diaspora or pr – - ks like me . . . These two men beside me will lead the way if you support them . . . let’s move on for some fun.”
Also watching was fellow Fugee Pras, actress Paz de la Huerta, actor Jeffrey Wright and nightlife queen Amy Sacco.
Wyclef’s reps didn’t get back to the media. Penn’s rep declined to comment about Wyclef.
The former Fugees star has been moved by footage of the uprising in Egypt, which has been making headlines around the world since last month, when thousands of citizens in the African republic began call for the resignation of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak.
And the hip-hop star wants to do his part to boost the demonstrators’ spirits – by performing an online gig for the people of Egypt.
In a video message on his Facebook.com page, Jean says, “We want to do something special… We want them to know that they’re not alone. We’re in this struggle too and we’re gonna fight with them so that they get their freedom.
“It’s going to come out on Facebook Friday morning, seven o’clock, we’re gonna drop it. Wyclef singing for the people of Egypt straight from my heart. All the people in Egypt that’s watching me on Twitter, I want you all to know that you’re not alone.
“We’re fighting with you all. Africa, it’s one fight, one struggle, respect – nothing but love. Make sure you all catch this joint for the people of Egypt.”
Following the strife and reportedly at the urging of U.S. politicians, President Mubarak, who has led Egypt for the past 30 years, has resigned.
Wyclef has dedicated his life to international politics in recent months and last year staged an unsuccessful attempt to join the race to become his native Haiti’s new president.
Wyclef Jean is teaming up with socialite Kim Kardashian to continue raising funds for Haiti and bring some holiday cheer to the victims of the January earthquake by hosting a charity auction.
The stars will be joined by music mogul Andre Harrell and fashion designer Donna Karan to present The Truth, an exhibition and auction of movie images and artworks by Haitian natives and artists inspired by the country.
And they will be supported by a string of celebrities – Forest Whitaker, Spike Lee, David Arquette, Gary Dourdan, Maria Bellow and Erykah Badu will all be special guests at the 16 December fundraiser in New York.
Jean will perform at the event, while Kardashian will put her social networking skills to good use by hosting a three-hour Twitter.com party.
The auction will raise money to provide Haitians with ‘Gifts of Love’, containing vital supplies such as shoes and flashlights, over the holiday season.
The packages will also include cholera relief supplies to help stem the current spread of the deadly disease, which is causing further devastation to the nation.
Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean was hospitalized during the weekend to treat exhaustion, his publicist said on Monday.
“He has already been released and is at home recuperating,” spokeswoman Marian Salzman said. “He will be back to work in about a week, and until then the family requests that he be allowed to genuinely rest.”
Salzman would not say where he was hospitalized.
The two-time Grammy Award winner has been busy working on a new album and recently waged a campaign to run for president in his native Haiti. But Haiti’s electoral council ruled last month that he failed to meet a requirement that presidential candidates maintain five consecutive years of residency in the country before running.
Jean was born in Haiti but moved to New York with his family at age 9 and now lives in New Jersey. He said previously that his new album, due for release next year, would be titled “If I were President, the Haitian Experience.”
The ‘Yele Haiti’ singer accused the actor of not noticing the good work he has been doing in the earthquake stricken country because he was too busy taking illegal drugs.
He said: “I got a message for Sean Penn – maybe he ain’t see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine.”
Although both stars have been heavily involved in aid work in Haiti since its capital, Port Au Prince, was hit by an earthquake which claimed 230,000 lives in January, a bitter war of words has broken out between the pair after Wyclef announced his intentions to run for president of the country in August.
Hitting out at him, Sean said he felt Wyclef’s campaign was “about a vision of flying around the world, talking to people”.
He later said: “As an ambassador at large, he has been virtually silent.”
He also wrote in a newspaper column: “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.”
Sean has also quickly refuted Wyclef’s outburst, calling it “highly irresponsible and false.”
A spokesperson for the actor, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement: “Mr. Jean is clearly unfamiliar with the physical demands put upon volunteers in Haiti. As aid workers there, the notion of depleting the body’s immune system thru the use of illicit drugs is ludicrous.
“More specifically, J/P Haitian Relief Organization (a.k.a. JPHRO) has a ZERO tolerance policy for any and all illegal drugs.
“As the leader of this organization, Sean Penn has not only set this policy, but adheres to it. That Mr. Jean would make such a false accusation is reckless and saddening, but not surprising.”
A few weeks after announcing his plans to run for president of Haiti, the country’s electoral officials declared the singer was ineligible to run.
A reason wasn’t given for the disqualification, but it is thought to be because the singer had not lived in Haiti for five years, a requirement for candidacy.
A ruling by Haiti’s electoral council that disqualified hip-hop star Wyclef Jean from running for the presidency is final and cannot be appealed, a council lawyer said on Tuesday.
The Haitian-born and U.S.-based singer-songwriter said on Sunday he would appeal against the provisional electoral council’s decision on Friday which rejected his candidacy for the November 28 election in the poorest state in the Americas.
Council officials said Jean, who left his homeland with his family at the age of 9 to live in the United States, did not meet residency requirements.
The 40-year-old musical celebrity has an enthusiastic youth following in Haiti and the dispute over his candidacy has raised some fears of tensions that could disrupt the country’s rebuilding after a devastating earthquake in January.
But apart from some small pro-Jean protests, the capital Port-au-Prince has remained largely calm and quiet.
Jean initially accepted the ruling and asked supporters to do the same. He has since launched a barrage of accusations via Twitter, Facebook and statements to U.S. media against the council, calling it corrupt and politically motivated.
Samuel Pierre of the council’s legal department told Reuters that, under article 191 of Haiti’s electoral law, rulings by the election authority’s disputes tribunal are definitive and cannot be appealed.
“Therefore there is absolutely no possibility for Wyclef Jean to be added to the list of candidates approved to run in the next presidential elections,” Pierre said. “So it’s over.”
Jean was one of 15 candidates disqualified from running to succeed President Rene Preval, who cannot stand again after serving two terms. A total of 19 candidates — including two former prime ministers, a former minister and a former first lady — were approved to run in the presidential election.
Electoral officials said Jean failed to meet a requirement that presidential candidates maintain five consecutive years of residency in Haiti prior to running.
The singer insists he presented documents to electoral authorities that demonstrate his five years of residency.
“I have spent half my life in Haiti going back and forth,” he told MSNBC in an interview on Tuesday.
“The electoral council is very corrupted,” he added, saying potential political rivals feared his presidential bid.
“WASTE OF TIME”
Jean has said some of the approved candidates failed to meet the residency requirement but were accepted nevertheless.
Pierre said the electoral council was aware some rejected candidates believed they could appeal against the rulings.
“This is a waste of time because, when it comes to electoral matters, the electoral council is the Supreme Court, meaning there is nowhere else to go,” he said.
Pierre said the council had not received any formal appeal from Jean or his lawyers, although they may have gone to another legal body.
Jean says his celebrity status would make him an ideal “global president” who could attract aid and investment to Haiti after the earthquake, which killed up to 300,000 people and crippled the underdeveloped Caribbean state’s economy.
United Nations and Haitian police have stepped up joint patrols in the rubble-strewn streets of the capital, where more than 1.5 million people are still living in fragile tent and tarpaulin cities at the peak of the 2010 hurricane season.
The U.N. mission in Haiti has appealed to candidates and political parties to respect the country’s electoral laws and promote peaceful campaigning by supporters.
Despite his popularity among Haiti’s youth, Jean has faced questions about whether a celebrity with no political experience is the best person to lead a chronically poor and corrupt nation that is coming out of a huge natural disaster.
Hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean said Sunday he is not abandoning his presidential bid just yet and will try to get the courts to overturn a decision disqualifying him from the race.
Speaking to The Associated Press by telephone from his home in Croix des Bouquets, Jean said his lawyers will file an appeal with the national electoral dispute office.
Jean said that he has a document “which shows everything is correct” and that he and his aides “feel that what is going on here has everything to do with Haitian politics.”
“They are trying to keep us out of the race,” he said, referring to Haiti’s political establishment.
Haiti’s elections board rejected Jean’s candidacy Friday night – presumably because it decided he didn’t meet residency requirements, although the board did not cite a specific reason. Under Haitian law, a presidential candidate must have lived in the country for five consecutive years leading up to the election.
Jean has argued that he was not required to comply with the law so strictly because after President Rene Preval appointed him as roving ambassador in 2007, he was allowed to travel and live outside the country.
Some officials in Haiti worried about political unrest among Jean supporters after his candidacy was rejected. But the singer asked his fans to stay calm, and there were no significant election-related protests or violence over the weekend – although rumors swirled about a large protest planned for Monday.
Many people in Jean’s hometown of Croix des Bouquets – a suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince – cheered the singer Sunday in his quest for the presidency.
“I love what Wyclef is doing,” said Paul Jean Augustine, a 27-year-old mechanic. “We’re ready to die for Clef, and without him there’s no election. We are with him 100 percent.”
Although he issued a statement late Friday saying that “I respectfully accept the committee’s final decision,” the 40-year-old singer said Sunday that he is appealing the Haitian board’s decision on the basis that it rejected his candidacy before the national electoral dispute office, or BCEN, could issue a final ruling on the residency issue.
Jean said that shortly after he filed his papers to run in the Nov. 28 election, two Haitian citizens challenged his candidacy, saying he had not met the residency requirements.
The BCEN ruled in his favor, Jean asserted, but the two citizens appealed the decision. The case was still pending when the Haitian elections board decided to disqualify Jean, the singer said.
It was not clear whether Jean’s legal argument would hold up. Elections board spokesman Richardson Dumel said that as of Sunday afternoon, he had not seen any paperwork from the candidate indicating an appeal, but he declined to comment further.
The board on Friday accepted 19 candidates and rejected 15. A spokesman read out the names of the approved and rejected candidates quickly at a late, hastily called news conference.
It would have helped both candidates and voters if the council had explained the basis of their decisions, said officials from the Joint Mission of Electoral Observation, a division of the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community.
“Regarding the 15 candidacies that were deemed ineligible, explications about the reasons for invalidating them would have contributed to the transparency of the process,” the OAS wrote in a news release issued Saturday.
Jean said he had planned to leave the country this weekend to see his family in New Jersey, but has decided to stay in Haiti to see the appeal process through.
Shortly after informing the AP of his decision Sunday morning, Jean announced it again on his Twitter feed, saying: “Tomorrow our Lawyers are appealing the decision of the CEP. We have met all the requirements set by the laws. And the law must be Respected.”
