Bangshowbiz:

Rapper Eve has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing her car.

The rapper and actress, who starred in XXX alongside Vin Diesel, narrowly escaped death after she drove her gold Maserati into the central reservation on Hollywood Boulevard at around 2:45 a.m. on Thursday.

The star's full name Eve Jeffers - was handcuffed by police and taken in a squad car to the Los Angeles County Jail. A witness said: "She was visibly upset. The car was totalled."

There were reportedly two passengers in the vehicle at the time. In a bizarre twist, Eve was visited in jail by Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn, who was seen leaving the police station in a taxi at 4:00 a.m.

A police source told gossip website TMZ.com: "He came to see how Eve was doing."

It is not known if Penn had been out with Eve earlier that night.

The Grammy-award winning artiste, who has her own self-titled sitcom, was later released on bail and picked up in another Maserati.