In a statement sent to CNN earlier this week, Raz-B’s manager revealed that reports claiming that the singer was comatose and on life support after being smashed in the face with a bottle at a nightclub in China are NOT true.
Last Friday, TMZ reported that the singer was sent to the hospital after he was involved in a nightclub brawl that ended with him being hit in the face with a glass bottle. While there, he underwent a minor surgical treatment to fix a gash in his lip, which required several stitches.
Raz-B was subsequently released and sent home to rest, but was reportedly re-admitted after he allegedly wouldn’t wake up the next day, and according to TMZ’s report, it was at that point that doctors determined that he was in a coma.
Early Monday morning, TMZ followed up their coma story with another report, saying that Raz-B was “out of his coma and in stable condition.”
We’re told he is stable, breathing on his own, smiling and responsive … but has not yet been released from the hospital. He’s staying a few more days to be monitored.
But as it turns out, the whole thing is a hoax. While Raz-B is (or was) in the hospital for injuries he sustained from the bottle attack, he was never in a coma and his injuries were never serious.
“The comments about Raz being in a coma did not come from his official representative,” the founding B2K member’s manager Elayne Rivers told CNN Monday.
Apparently, Raz-B’s brother Ricky Romance was behind the whole thing.
The singer’s brother, who performs under the name Ricky Romance, said in a statement sent to CNN Monday afternoon that he had been “misled by unknown reasons.”
“I was unfortunately unable to contact my brother at the time and then panicked,” Romance said. “I then alerted as many people of this information hoping to gather facts… Since the source that gave me this information was what I thought to be legitimately reliable I didn’t question I just believed. I apologize if I seem like I jumped to conclusions but a coma is a serious situation and it was concerning my brother whom is my best friend as well. I sincerely apologize for the confusion I caused if that is the case.”
When TMZ first reported that Raz-B was in a coma, they identified their source as a woman named Toy Jones, who, CNN said had also contacted them with the same story, but without pertinent details, such as the name of the hospital.
CNN says they refused to report the story until details could be confirmed by officials, and Raz-B even reached out personally asking that nothing be published.
Several hours later, Jones sent CNN a written statement saying the singer had miraculously recovered from the coma and would be released from the hospital in days. The unedited statement reads: “Doctor says Numerous Brain scans showed that Raz’s entire cortex- the parts of the brain that give us consciousness, thought, Memory and understanding is now functioning. Doctors say its a miracle and told his family that he stands a strong chance of survival and no signs of being brain dead for the rest of his life against all odds,Raz woke up this morning and is in stable condition We ask the the fans and media respect our family’s privacy”
Later, Jones claimed she was hired by Raz-B’s family to get the story of his coma out to the media, saying of the alleged coma, “as far as I know it is true,” but Raz-B’s manager has now distanced the singer from the erroneous reports.
At the end of their article, CNN hilariously pointed out, while also uncharacteristically throwing shade:
Dozens of news agencies around the world — including in China — repeated the coma story, giving Raz B more publicity in one weekend than he’s likely had since his group disbanded nine years ago.
