LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The health of U.S. rapper Lil Wayne was the subject of conflicting reports on Friday, with celebrity website TMZ.com saying he was in a medically induced coma and a fellow rapper saying Wayne was alive and well and watching a basketball game.
TMZ.com, citing unnamed sources, said Lil Wayne, 30, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., was in critical condition at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles after suffering multiple seizures earlier this week.
But rapper Mack Maine said in a Twitter posting that Wayne was “alive and well. We watching the Syracuse (basketball) game…thanks for the prayers and concern..he will update you all soon.”
“We will be releasing an official statement shortly but dont believe the nonsense about comas and tubes to breathe…that’s false!!” Maine tweeted.
Wayne’s representatives did not return calls for comment.
TMZ said the rapper, 30, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai for seizures and released on Wednesday. But the website said he was readmitted a few hours later after his bodyguard found him unconscious on the floor of his room.
It said his mother was flying to Los Angeles to be at his bedside.
Wayne has suffered several unexplained seizures in the past few months, including two in January while on a plane flight.
Wayne, a native of New Orleans, began rapping at the age of nine, when he became the youngest artist to be signed by Cash Money record label.
The “Got Money” rapper has released nine studio albums over a two decade career and has become one of the biggest names in rap music.
