Foxy Brown Blames Hearing Loss for Solitary Punishment

Imprisoned rapper Foxy Brown has hit out at reports she was placed in solitary confinement because she refused to take a drug test, insisting her poor hearing is to blame.

The hip-hop star -- real name Inga Marchand -- was sentenced to 76 days of "punitive segregation" earlier this week after violating three rules at Rikers Island jail. The 28-year-old was alleged to have been involved in a fight with another inmate, was verbally abusive to staff and refused a random drug test.

But Brown's manager, Chaz Williams, claims her separation was simply a misunderstanding -- because of her temperamental hearing aid.

He tells Billboard.com, "Really she didn't hear the request. She has a battery-operated device and sometimes it dies out."

And he has dismissed further accusations of her unruly behavior as inaccurate.

He adds, "There was an incident where a girl attempted to confront her and she stood her ground, but there wasn't any contact. Words were exchanged and that was it."

Brown was ordered to serve a year behind bars last month after a New York judge ruled she had violated the terms of her probation.

The star announced she had been diagnosed with sudden hearing loss in December 2005, and underwent a number of operations to prevent permanent hearing loss.