Amy Winehouse film director claims the late singer suffered brain damage

Asif Kapadia said the overdoses and seizures had an impact on the singer's mental health in a new interview

Amy Winehouse (Getty)

The director of the new Amy Winehouse documentary has claimed the late singer may have suffered brain damage from years of drug abuse.

Asif Kapadia, the film-maker behind Amy, told The Sun: “We can say she had a mental illness and brain damage that came from all the overdoses and seizures she had over the years.

“That definitely affected her brain. She wasn’t thinking straight.

“But there was enough in her that she was making choices and people around her were making choices that, even if she hadn’t become a huge star, there’s still the potential she could have chosen that path.”

The film, which premiered on Friday, is already breaking box office records, and has received glowing reviews since it originally premieres in Cannes.

Those close to Winehouse have been divided over the film.

Mark Ronson, who produced her second album Back to Black, said he found it tough to watch but praised the respectful portrayal of the singer, while her father, Mitch Winehouse, has threatened legal action, claiming the depiction of him as an absent father is unfair and incorrect.