Wyclef Jean: Penn 'too busy sniffing cocaine' to notice his work in Haiti

Jean lashed out at Penn at a concert in New York on Friday, suggesting the actor’s recreational drug use led him to criticize his presidential bid in Haiti, reports MTV.

Last month, Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn slammed Jean's bid just hours after he declared his intention to run for the president of Haiti, which was ravaged by a Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people, destroyed 60 percent of government infrastructure and left more than 180,000 homes uninhabitable.

Penn's rep has rubbished the 40-year-old musician's comments, saying the accusations are not true, Daily reports.

The actor, who has been running a 55,000-person tent camp through the J/P Haitian Relief Organization he co-founded, questioned the motives of the musician and those backing his campaign at the time.

Jean’s highly-publicized bid for president of Haiti then came to a sudden end after the country's Provisional Electoral Council ruled that the hip-hop star did not satisfy all the legal requirements to contest the election.

What irritated Jean?
Criticizing Jean’s bid for the Haitian presidency during an appearance on Larry King’s show last month, Penn suggested that Jean’s campaign might just be “about a vision of flying around the world, talking to people.”

Later on, the 'Milk' star criticized Jean via the Huffington Post, saying he failed to speak up about the earthquake in Haiti.

Jean slammed Penn
In response to these criticisms, the Grammy-winning hip-hop star, known for such hit singles as 'We Trying to Stay Alive' and 'Gone Till November,' has slammed Penn while performing his 2004 hit 'President' at Hot 97's On the Reggae Trip last week, according to New York Daily News.

Switching up the lyrics to his 2004 song 'President,' he sang, "I got a message for Sean Penn: Maybe he ain't see me in Haiti because he was too busy sniffing cocaine."

Snaps back at Pras too
The musician also took issue with his former bandmate Pras Michel, who criticized Jean’s strategy for revitalizing Haiti and announced not to support the rapper, instead endorse Michel Martell as the next president of Haiti.

Jean said on Friday, "I got a message for Praswell, even though you don't want to support me, I got love for you, even though you only kicked 8 bars in the Fugees."

Penn fires back
Meanwhile, Penn's rep has rubbished the 40-year-old musician's comments, saying the accusations are not true, Daily reports.

"Mr. Jean is clearly unfamiliar with the physical demands put upon volunteers in Haiti. As aid workers there, the notion of depleting the body’s immune system thru the use of illicit drugs is ludicrous. More specifically, J/P Haitian Relief Organization (a.k.a. JPHRO) has a ZERO tolerance policy for any and all illegal drugs," said Mara Buxbaum.

“As the leader of this organization, Sean Penn has not only set this policy, but adheres to it. That Mr. Jean would make such a false accusation is reckless and saddening, but not surprising.”