NBC News paid Whitney Houston’s hairstylist Tiffanie Dixon for exclusive photos

NBC News has reportedly licensed photos from Whitney Houston’s hairstylist Tiffanie Dixon for two of its shows.

The network nabbed an exclusive interview with Tiffanie Dixon, one of the few people present in Whitney Houston’s hotel room at the time of her death.

NBC News, which has spoken out against the practice of “paying” for interviews, reportedly licensed photos from Tiffanie Dixon, Whitney Houston’s hairstylist, when they interviewed her for two of its shows, “Dateline” and “Today.”

NBC‘s Tamron Hall had said that they were licensed when they appeared on-screen.

While American networks forbid “paying” people for interviews, they sometimes pay individuals licensing fees for their photos or videos in exchange for exclusive interviews. The controversial practice is seen as unethical by some.

Rival news bureaus NBC and ABC had a rather testy exchange about this very subject in July 2011. ABC News announced that the network was suspending the practice after some heated criticism.

The declaration opened up a war of words with NBC, which said: “We agree that their recent activity has been bad for journalism and the news industry. And we welcome them back to the practices that we work hard to uphold.”

ABC‘s Barbara Walters recently stuck to the new standard after rumors swirled that she was reportedly asking ABC News to pay Pippa Middleton a six-figure sum for an exclusive interview.

“ABC News does not pay for interviews,” Barbara Walters pressed during her daytime talk show “The View.”