Wyclef Jean says he and Lauryn Hill were like “two outlaws in love” when they were together.
The two musicians dated during the ‘90s, when their band The Fugees was on the road to hitting the big time. They have admitted it was a troubled pairing, with Wyclef opening up about their explosive fights in his new book Purpose: An Immigrant’s Story.
“It was like we were two outlaws in love,” he writes in the memoir, penned with Anthony Bozza.
“We had fights on planes… We had huge fights, and a few times when it went down, she started swinging at me right there in the seats. People would scatter. We never got arrested, but we came close a few times in Europe.”
Wyclef married Marie Claudinette in 1994, when things were still strained between him and Lauryn.
“I was in the middle and each of them was passionate about me in different ways,” he recalls. “Something was going to happen.”
The group – comprising of Wyclef, Lauryn and Pras Michel – released their smash hit record The Score in 1996 but never worked on another album together. By the following year they were creating solo material, although Wyclef stops short of admitting his relationship with Lauryn was the catalyst for the group’s problems.
“I definitely felt I couldn’t help myself,” he claims. “I’m just being as honest as King David in the Bible.”
Wyclef admits his romance with Lauryn caused tension, as she would ask him why they were no longer together while the band was working. She went on to have five children with Rohan Marley and one with another man. Her singing career has been erratic and Wyclef knows some people blame that on him.
“I’ve been told by many angry people who are also her fans that if I hadn’t messed with her, she would not have gone so insane,” he writes.
He alleges he knew they could never be together again when she claimed one of her kids was his.
“In that moment something died between us,” he claims.
“I was married and Lauryn and I were having an affair, but she led me to believe that the baby was mine, and I couldn't forgive that.
“She could no longer be my muse. Our love spell was broken."
