Foxy Brown says she's been deaf for months

updated 4:11 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2005

NEW YORK - Foxy Brown says she hasn’t heard another person’s voice in six months and will have surgery early next year to restore her hearing.

The 26-year-old rapper was diagnosed with sudden hearing loss in May while she was recording her upcoming album, she told reporters Thursday.

“I ask only for your continued prayers and compassion as I embrace the blessings of my journey,” Brown said, her voice at times choking up and tears coming to her eyes.

She was accompanied by supporters including Russell Simmons and his wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, and Brown’s new lawyer, Joseph Fleming.

Brown’s former lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, disclosed her hearing loss last week. He had been asked why they had exchanged notes while waiting in Manhattan Criminal Court for her case to be called on an unresolved 2004 assault charge. The two parted ways just days later.

At the news conference, Brown’s medical consultant, Laura Arias, refused to give any details on what the surgery would involve, the exact date it would take place, or how long the recovery would be.

Brown said she would return to recording as soon as possible.

“I am racing to the studio the moment that God affords me the opportunity to hear again,” she said.

Fleming said he was “cautiously optimistic” that an agreement would be reached with prosecutors prior to her next court appearance on Dec. 23.

Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, has refused at least two misdemeanor plea deals that would have let her avoid any jail time for allegedly assaulting two nail salon workers on Aug. 29, 2004, in a fight over payment for a manicure at Bloomie Nails in Manhattan’s Chelsea area.

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