Fantasia Barrino released from the hospital following overdose

Fantasia Barrino was released from the hospital on Wednesday following her Monday night drug overdose and alleged suicide attempt.


"She has been lifted up by the outpouring of love and support from her fans," her manager Brian Dickens said in a media statement confirming Barrino's release.

"She is more committed than ever to her daughter and her work because they are her heart, her soul and inspiration."

The 26-year-old third-season American Idol champion and Fantasia For Real star was hospitalized on Monday night after she overdosed on aspirin and sleep medication at her Charlotte, NC home, according to Dickens.

Barrino overdosed after she was "overwhelmed" by reports that she is allegedly a "home wrecker" responsible for the break-up of the marriage of a North Carolina man she has been dating, Dickens said.


However local police -- who responded to Barrino's home after receiving a 911 call from Dickens, according to the resulting police report -- have classified the incident as an intentional suicide attempt. 

According to a 911 call recording released Wednesday, a dispatcher was told Barrino had taken "a bottle of aspirin" and was "slowly losing consciousness."  Family members had placed her in a shower and turned the water on in an attempt to keep her awake, however the dispatcher advised them to remove her from the shower.

Officers then reportedly found Barrino in a closet with "possible internal injuries" when they arrived at her Charlotte home.

Barrino was accused of having an affair and making sex tapes with Antwaun Cook in a August 4 court complaint filed by Cook's estranged wife Paula Cook which surfaced in the media last weekend.  Barrino subsequently denied any responsibility for the couple's break-up on Monday.

The complaint requests a North Carolina court give Paula Cook custody of the couple's 2-year-old and 6-year-old boys and require Antwaun Cook to pay child support, post-separation support, alimony, and his wife's legal fees, as well as ensure an equitable distribution of their property.


Although the case doesn't involve Barrino directly, it is reportedly a potential first step in a lawsuit that could cost her millions since North Carolina is one of seven states in which a "home wrecker" can be sued for breaking up a marriage. Earlier this year, a North Carolina jury awarded a woman $9 million in a case brought under the state's "alienation of affection" law and involving a 33-year marriage.

According to the complaint, Barrino met Antwaun Cook in August 2009 when she visited the T-Mobile store he works at in Cary, NC and the pair began "their covert adulterous affair" shortly thereafter.  The relationship allegedly included the recording of "their illicit sexual activity."

However, Paula Cook allegedly didn't learn of the couple's "open and notorious relationship" -- which included Barrino tattooing "Cook" on her shoulder and having Cook's husband accompany her on numerous trips around the country -- until early October, when Antwaun Cook failed to accompany his wife to New Orleans on a trip that had been scheduled to coincide with their 5-year wedding anniversary and a family member told her about his affair.

A family member then allegedly contacted Barrino and told the American Idol winner her relationship with Antwaun Cook was "wrong," however she "became indignant" and said she loved him and "he was a grown man" who could "make his own decisions," according to the complaint. 

Antwaun Cook allegedly later told his wife he wanted to "work out" their marital problems but secretly continued to have a relationship with Barrino until the Cooks separated in June -- after which Barrino taunted Paula Cook during a subsequent phone call with her estranged husband in July.


"He don't want you," Barrino said, according to the complaint.  "Maybe the next time that you get a husband you'll know how to keep him. That's why he is here with me."

Barrino wasn't aware Antwaun Cook was still with his wife while she was dating him, according to Dickens.

"She believed him when he told her he and Mrs. Cook separated in the late summer of 2009," Dickens said in a Tuesday statement.  "Fantasia read Mrs. Cook's Complaint against Mr. Cook for the first time yesterday. She knows some of the allegations in Mrs. Cook's complaint are totally false. There are others she strongly doubts. There is plenty she does not know."

"Fantasia and Mr. Cook dated on and off for about eleven months. The pressure of the constant media attention was hard on their relationship. Fantasia gave inconsistent interviews about the status of her relationship with Mr. Cook because sometimes they were on and sometimes they were off."






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