Statement by Winehouse’s dad disputed

LONDON — A discrepancy regarding the health of Amy Winehouse arose Monday after the Grammy-winning singer’s father said she had early stage emphysema brought on by smoking crack cocaine and cigarettes.

A publicist for Winehouse later said he had misspoken “out of his concern for her.”

“She is not diagnosed with full-blown emphysema, but instead has early signs of what could lead to emphysema,” Tracey Miller, her U.S.-based representative, said Monday.

In an interview published Sunday by the Daily Mail of London, Mitch Winehouse said that his daughter’s crack and cigarette smoking had led to early-stage emphysema, and that the singer had an irregular heartbeat.

However, in an interview later with BBC Radio 1, he appeared to downplay his dire statements, and said: “Amy really hasn’t got emphysema, there’s traces of emphysema. Obviously, if she doesn’t quit smoking, it’s going to get worse, like everyone else … with patience her lungs will recover completely.”