Arsenio Hall to dismiss $5 million lawsuit against Sinead O'Connor for Prince comments
The singer also apologized for claiming Hall provided Prince with drugs.
— -- Sinead O'Connor apologized Wednesday for suggesting in a 2016 Facebook post that Arsenio Hall provided Prince with drugs, an accusation which prompted the former talk show host to file a $5 million lawsuit against the Irish singer.
In light of O'Connor's apology, the lawsuit will be dismissed, Hall's publicist said.
Prince died in April 2016 at the age of 57.
"Arsenio Hall and Sinead O'Connor announce that Sinead has retracted and apologized for statements she made about Arsenio last year, which prompted his defamation lawsuit against her, and the lawsuit has been resolved," read a joint statement sent to ABC News by Hall's publicist.
The publicist also provided O'Connor's retraction and apology, attributed to the singer, which read, "I apologize for my Facebook posts about Arsenio Hall to the extent that anyone thought I was accusing him of acting as Prince's drug dealer and supplying him with illegal hard drugs, or insinuating that Arsenio had something to do with Prince’s death. I sincerely apologize because those statements would be false, and I retract them unequivocally."
Hall's publicist confirmed to ABC News, "Arsenio's lawyers have confirmed that now that Arsenio's reputation has been restored by Sinead's unequivocal retraction and apology, the lawsuit will be dismissed."
As ABC News previously reported, O'Connor on May 2, 2016 wrote on her Facebook page, "Two words for the DEA investigating where prince got his drugs over the decades.... Arsenio Hall (AKA Prince's and Eddie Murphy's b****). Anyone imagining prince was not a long time hard drug user is living in cloud cuckoo land. Arsenio I've reported you to the Carver County Sherrif's office. Expect their call. They are aware you spiked me years ago at Eddie murphy's house. You best get tidying your man cave."
In the lawsuit subsequently filed in May by Hall, his attorneys denied O'Connor's allegations, writing, "The malicious statements made by O'Connor are absolutely false, and O'Connor's heinous accusations that Hall engaged in this criminal conduct are despicable, fabricated lies ... "The truth is that Hall never supplied illegal drugs to Prince, and he never 'spiked' O'Connor with drugs," the paperwork continues." The suit also claims O'Connor knew the accusations were false before she posted them on her Facebook page.
O'Connor took to Facebook in May to respond to to Hall's "laughable threats" in his lawsuit.
"I'm more amused than I've ever dreamed a person could be and look forward very much to how hilarious it will be watching him trying to prove me wrong," she wrote.
As for Prince's alleged drug use, as ABC previously reported, Minneapolis attorney William Mauzy -- who represents prominent California addiction specialist Dr. Howard Kornfeld -- said at a press conference in May that Prince had arranged to meet with Kornfeld the day before the singer died.
If true, this would paint a different picture of the late singer: Earlier reports, citing interviews with former employees, maintained that Prince led a strictly clean lifestyle.
Reps for the late singer never commented on that aspect.
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