Haven’t heard from Shakira for a while? She’s been out of pocket for a good part of June, dealing with family matters. The pop star had to travel to Colombia to tend to her father William Mebarak Chadid, 92, who has been quite ill. Mebarek was admitted to the ICU at Ibero-American Clinic in Barranquilla on June 5 with pneumonia, Hola magazine reports. On Sunday, Shakira gave an update to her fans via Instagram Stories, informing them she’d been in the hospital for almost three weeks to be at his side. And now, good news — he was on the mend. The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer said that thanks to the great medical team, along with her father’s “incredible strength,” the retired businessman would be transferred to a regular room. “The fight continues,” wrote the 47-year-old entertainer on her text over screen. “Meanwhile, that smile of his, which shines even in the most difficult moments, is my best example.”
Two summers ago, Shakira was dealing with her father’s health issues while also splitting from Gerard Pique, the father of her two sons, Milan, 11, and Sasha, 9. She later told People en Español that her father had traveled to Spain to attend Milan’s first communion, where he was “gravely injured” in a fall.
To add even more stress to the situation, she said while he was recovering, the tabloids began reporting that Pique was cheating on her with Clara Chia Marti. (The couple is still together.) “He went to Barcelona to console me after I was consumed with sadness because of my separation,” said Shakira of Mebarek. “Everything happened at once. My home life was falling apart.”