Singer and actor Ray J said this week that his heart is “only beating like 25%” after he was hospitalized for a severe case of pneumonia.
In videos now circulating online from previous online comments, Ray J, 45, said doctors told him he doesn't have much longer to live. “2027 is definitely a wrap for me,” he said. He gestured to his heart and said the right side is black from alcohol and drug use. “It’s, like, done,” he continued.
Friends in the background of the video urged Ray J not to listen to doctors, telling him he will live to see his children grow up.
Ray J repeatedly said he previously drank four to five bottles of alcohol a day and took up to 10 “addys.” “I shouldn’t have went this hard, bro,” he said in the video. He said he “f----d up” and previously thought “I could handle all that alcohol, I could handle all that Adderall, I could handle all the drugs, I could handle everything, but I couldn’t.”
He told TMZ on Thursday that he is on eight medications for his heart and that doctors have recommended he stay in bed and take his medication and not to smoke or drink. They have also told him to prepare for the possibility of a pacemaker or a defibrillator, according to TMZ.
Ray J didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Ray J — the R&B performer who is the younger brother of pop star and actor Brandy — made it big with hits like “One Wish” and “Sexy Can I” and later as a reality star on “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” and “For the Love of Ray J.” He came to tabloid fame after the 2007 release of his sex tape with Kim Kardashian.
He was hospitalized for pneumonia in early January following a custody and legal battle with his estranged wife Princess Love. Ray J, a father of two, was arrested in November on suspicion of pointing a gun at Princess Love.
Ray J said in videos circulated online that a restraining order prevents him from contacting Princess Love or his children and that he can’t be within 150 feet of them. He also said that he hasn’t seen his children since his health has worsened and that the mother of his children doesn’t know how “drastic” his health decline has been.
