Sinead O’Connor Apologizes for Calling Arsenio Hall Prince’s Drug Dealer

Summary: Arsenio Hall plans to drop his $5 million defamation lawsuit against Sinead O’Connor after she issued an apology, retracting her allegation that he sold drugs to Prince.

On Wednesday, Sinead O’Connor avoided a $5 million defamation lawsuit by apologizing to talk show host Arsenio Hall. In 2016, the “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer wrote on Facebook that Hall was Prince’s drug dealer and was partly responsible for his April 2016 death. Hall denied the accusation and promptly filed the lawsuit against her.

According to ABC News, a publicist representing both parties issued an apology from O’Connor as well as a joint statement from O’Connor and Hall.

“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,” O’Connor said. “I sincerely apologize because those statements would be false, and I retract them unequivocally.”

Hall’s publicist said that he had accepted the apology and will dismiss the case.

“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,” the joint statement sent to ABC News said.

Prince died at the age of 57 and an autopsy showed that he had passed from an opioid overdose. The “Purple Rain” singer did not leave a will, so his family and people claiming to be his heirs are fighting over his multi-million estate, which includes a library of his songs.

Hall and O’Connor were both friends of Prince. In O’Connor’s original Facebook message, she accused Hall of giving Prince hard drugs as well as of once spiking her drink at a party. At the time, Hall said she knowingly was spreading false reports and was being “malicious.”