Acclaimed director John Singleton has died, his family confirmed on Monday, April 29. He was 51.
“We are sad to relay that John Singleton has died,” the Singleton family said in a statement to Us Weekly. “John passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family and friends. We want to thank the amazing doctors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital for their expert care and kindness and we again want thank all of John’s fans, friends, and colleagues for all of the love and support they showed him during this difficult time.”
His agents at ICM Partners also shared a statement about the sad news. “It is with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved son, father, and friend, John Daniel Singleton, passed away today due to complications from a stroke he suffered,” the statement read.
The Boyz n the Hood director, who earned two Oscar nods for his work on the celebrated 1991 film, had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, and was on life support. According to TMZ, Singleton was in a coma.
Earlier on Monday, the filmmaker’s family released a statement saying that the prolific director would be taken off life support, 13 days after suffering a massive stroke. “This was an agonizing decision, one that our family made, over a number of days, with the careful counsel of John’s doctors,” the family said in a statement to Us.
The statement also noted that the director battled high blood pressure: “Like many African Americans, Singleton quietly struggled with hypertension. More than 40 percent of African American men and women have high blood pressure, which also develops earlier in life and is usually more severe. His family wants to share the message with all to please recognize the symptoms by going to Heart.org.”
Singleton is survived by his mother Sheila Ward, dad Danny Singleton, and kids Justice, Maasai, Hadar, Cleopatra, Selenesol, Isis, and Seven.
