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From 'American Idol' winner to troubled R&B star
"American Idol" season three winner Fantasia Barrino was hospitalized on Monday, Aug. 9 after overdosing on a combination of aspirin and a sleep aid, as reported by People magazine and other media outlets and confirmed by the singer's manager. Barrino is now "doing fine," according to her father, Joseph Barrino, who gave an interview with RadarOnline.com on Tuesday.
Although details surrounding the circumstances of her overdose remain sketchy, police in Charlotte, N.C., are treating the incident as a suicide attempt. Earlier Monday, Barrino's manager admitted that the 26-year-old singer had been having an affair with a married man, but denied reports that the pair had recorded a sex tape.
Metromix will report more details on this story as they emerge. In the meantime, Fantasia's third studio album, "Back to Me," is still scheduled to come out Aug. 24.
UPDATE: Fantasia's manager, Brian Dickens, now admits that the singer overdosed because she was "overwhelmed" by the media attention surrounding her affair with Antwuan Cook, a married man whose wife, Paula, has now filed a child custody complaint against her husband. Dickens maintains, however, that the overdose was accidental and made worse by the fact that Barrino was "dehydrated and exhausted at the time."
UPDATE: TMZ.com obtained a copy of the 911 tape, in which Dickens is heard telling an operator that Barrino was "slowly losing consciousness" after swallowing a bottle of aspirin pills.You can hear an MP3 of the tape on People.com.
