John Singleton is reportedly on life support after suffering a stroke 12 days ago.
On Monday (April 29), the acclaimed director’s publicist told TMZ that Singleton is “non-responsive” and in a medically-induced coma at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His publicist also claimed the 51-year-old’s condition is not improving.
Last week, Singleton’s daughter, Cleopatra Singleton, spoke to The New York Times and refuted reports that her father was in a coma. “My father is not in a coma,” she told the outlet. “My father had a stroke on April 17, 2019, and at this point, we are optimistic about a full recovery.”
As previously reported, Singleton checked himself into a hospital after returning home from a trip to Costa Rica. At the time, a family member told TMZ that the “Baby Boy” director was experiencing weakness in one of his legs and believed his stroke may have been triggered by his flight back.
Singleton’s mother, Shelia Ward, has filed for a temporary conservator for her son. Ward claims Singleton suffered a “major stroke” and is “unable to properly provide for his personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.” However, Singleton’s daughter disagrees.
According to Cleopatra, her father is “getting better every day.” Court documents obtained by TMZ revealed a rift between the family as Cleopatra believes Ward is attempting to make medical and financial decisions on her father’s behalf for nefarious reasons.
“My father’s allowed his mother to stay in that position out of fear and obligation to her as she’s bullied and abandoned my father since he was a small child, leaving him emotionally defenseless,” the college sophomore wrote. Cleopatra also stated that Singleton responds to stimuli and “has even smiled on many occasions.”
Taraji P. Henson, who has worked with Singleton on numerous occasions, backed up those claims when she visited the director on Saturday (April 27). “Visited you today. Me and Tyrese prayed so hard over you. You heard my voice and jumped up,” she wrote on Instagram.
Keep reading to see the actress’ full post ahead, then see Tyrese’s heartwarming tribute to Singleton as well.
More on this story as it develops.