Wyclef Jean Out of the Haiti Presidential Race Already?

Rapper isn't on the official list of candidates released Thursday, according to election official; Jean tells reporter he's "optimistic"

Well, Sean Penn must be pleased.

Wyclef Jean's presidential run in Haiti hit its first—and, possibly, last—major obstacle Thursday when he reportedly failed to make the list of legally approved candidates for the Nov. 28 election.

So is that it?

"He is not on the list as I speak," an election official told Reuters. The Provisional Electoral Council will make the list public on Friday.

But Jean, who's been lying low in Haiti after allegedly receiving death threats, told the Miami Herald today that he's still optimistic that he's going to be on the list, along with 33 other people who submitted their names.

And PEC head Gaillot Dorsinvil told the Herald that no such list exists yet.

The anonymous official didn't go into detail on what supposedly prevented Jean from making the cut, but questions had arose as to the legitimacy of his candidacy, considering presidential contenders are required to have maintained a residency in Haiti for at least five years and Jean's family moved to Brooklyn when he was a kid.

Jean, 39, pointed out when he announced his candidacy that he holds a Haitian passport and is a frequent visitor to the impoverished island nation. He was born in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets.

"My lawyers have produced every piece of document that has been asked for,'' he told the Herald. "No one can say that there is any flaw.''

The former Fugees rapper's Yelé Haiti Foundation raised more than $9.1 million for victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake, which killed upward of 200,000 people and displaced thousands more. Jean resigned as chairman when he decided to go for the country's top job.

________

Check out what Hollywood has been doing for Haiti right here.