Courtney Love’s Turbulent Life Takes Another Baffling Turn

Courtney Love’s personal turmoil continued Friday as her latest trip to the hospital was alternately described as a drug-related incident and a fainting spell. Whatever it was will be pivotal for the troubled rock star, who is still on probation from past offenses and has only recently regained custody of her daughter, which she lost after her drug-use convictions.

Love was not present for a Friday court proceeding stemming from one of her earlier brushes with the law and there were conflicting characterizations of the event that led to her being taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center early Thursday. Her closest advisors were hesitant to describe the incident, which began during a party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, beyond saying that the 41-year-old is in good shape and should not be judged until the facts are clear.

“Right now, all I can tell you is that she is fine,” one of the singer’s managers, Adam Schneider, said. Love’s publicist earlier said: “A friend called an ambulance for precaution, they took her to the hospital and she was released immediately.” A close confidant of Love’s who was with her Friday said that she was in no medical danger and that the entire matter was being blown out of proportion because of Love’s status as a gossip target.

Love acknowledges she has made herself a target. “I have given everyone in the world an excuse to take a shot at me,” she said in an interview with The Times last year.

At the time, Love was candid about a series of criminal cases and public mishaps, including assaulting a fan with a microphone stand. She also said that the threat of losing custody of her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, weighed on her more heavily than any judicial threat.

Her Friday court hearing was for a progress report on her drug rehabilitation in a case in which she was charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance. Her lawyer, Michael Rosenstein, said that after reviewing the case, a judge concluded that Love was “progressing well.”

Rosenstein said that the misdemeanor would be stricken from her record if she completes a one-year drug treatment program. She began a program six months ago and has another progress report hearing scheduled for Jan. 27.

Authorities first described Thursday’s incident as a report of a drug overdose. Melissa Kelley, an L.A. Fire Department spokeswoman, said paramedics responded about midnight to a call from the Roosevelt of a drug overdose. Kelley said records didn’t show who made the call or whom was taken to the hospital.

An LAPD spokeswoman initially told a Times reporter early Thursday that “Courtney Love overdosed at the Roosevelt and was transported to Cedars-Sinai Hospital around midnight.” Later in the day, however, police declined to elaborate on the matter and identified the victim only as “Courtney L,” citing confidentiality issues and victim identity protections.

On Monday, Love was awarded complete custody of her daughter and all court-ordered supervision of the relationship was ended, said Howard Weitzman, the singer’s attorney in the matter. Love’s daughter with the late rocker Kurt Cobain was taken from her in 2003 after Love was hospitalized following overdose. It was not clear Friday if that matter would come back before the court.

The incident early Thursday came on the eve of the release of “Last Days,” a movie by Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Zant that tells the story of a fictitious rock martyr based on the life of Cobain. Cobain, an iconic figure in rock as leader of the band Nirvana, killed himself in 1994 after a pitched fight with heroin addiction.

Addiction has also haunted Love, whose public life has slid from strong critical and commercial acclaim for her music and glowing notices for some of her film work in the 1990s to a parade of appearances in tabloid columns and court dockets. Her most recent album, last year’s “America’s Sweetheart,” has sold only 99,000 copies, a shadow of her earlier days when her music sold millions of copies and demanded center-stage attention. Love’s recent tours have been a disappointment after her early 1990s career when she topped critic’s lists.

Schneider, the singer’s manager, said she has been working with rock notables Billy Corgan and Linda Perry in studio.

Times staff writer Geoff Boucher and Associated Press contributed to this report.