Folk legend Joni Mitchell is “alert” and “not in a coma” according to her website, despite a friend's court filing that she is unconscious and unable to care for herself.
The Grammy Award winning musician was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital on March 31 for undisclosed reasons after paramedics responded to a call stating an “unconscious female” had been found in her home.
It emerged this week that Mitchell’s close friend Leslie Morris had filed legal documents to obtain conservatorship over the musician and her affairs, stating that the 71-year-old has no close relatives to assume the role.
These reports have since been denied, with a post on Mitchell's website reading: “Joni is not in a coma. Joni is still in the hospital – but she comprehends, she’s alert, and she has her full senses. A full recovery is expected.”
The statement continued: “The document obtained by a certain media outlet simply gives her longtime friend Leslie Morris the authority – in the absence of 24-hour doctor care – to make care decisions for Joni once she leaves the hospital. As we all know, Joni is a strong-willed woman and is nowhere near giving up the fight. Please continue to keep Joni in your thoughts.”
Mitchell – who is the face of Saint Laurent's spring ad campaign, which debuted in January – has received eight Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2002 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
