Cissy Houston and Bobbi Kristina Brown’s relationship soured after the publication of a tell-all memoir about Whitney Houston’s life, career and personal struggles.
However, Cissy Houston, 79, has attempted to build bridges with granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown by penning a candid letter in which she offers her opinion on the 20-year-old’s current relationship, their shared grief and the controversial book that originally drove a wedge between them.
Cissy Houston published Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss and the Night Music Stopped in February, but intimate details about her daughter’s marriage to Bobby Brown, her long battle with cocaine addiction, a rumored gay affair and her eventual, untimely death at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2012, aged 48, enraged her granddaughter.
Writing on Twitter at the time, Bobbi Kristina Brown furiously dismissed her grandmother’s memoir as lies with the tweet: “I KNOW THE TRUTH.”
She added: “I haven’t read and won’t … I find it to be disrespectful to my mother and me being her daughter won’t tolerate it.”
Whitney Houston’s only child with Bobby Brown is currently engaged to long-term boyfriend Nick Gordon – something Cissy Houston was quick to address in her open letter, which has been published online.
Cissy Houston writes: “Do I want you to get married in the near future? No, I don’t. I think you’re too young and I wish you’d wait. But that’s because I’m Grandma.
“I’m supposed to worry about you. I’m supposed to wonder if Nick or ANY man is good enough for you, My Baby’s Baby.
“I’m not angry with Nick and I don’t think, nor did I ever say anything hurtful about him to anyone. I have NEVER publicly commented on your personal life and I don’t intend to.
“So in the future when you read or hear that Cissy Houston said this or said that, be confident in the knowledge that it isn’t true.”
Former gospel star Cissy Houston – who provided backing vocals for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Elvis Presley during the sixties and seventies – also touched on her book, conceding that she understand why Bobbi Kristina Brown would feel so angry about it.
She adds: “…but I hope one day you’ll read it and understand that I just wanted to let the world see some of My Nippy – the sweet, friendly, loving little girl with the extraordinary beauty and boundless talent, who grew into the superstar and musical icon the world saw.
“I want people to know – fans and critics and ordinary people alike – Nippy was a whole person, and like all of us, she was good and bad AND she was my joy!!”
A rep speaking on behalf of Cissy Houston later confirmed there was no ulterior motive behind the 550 word letter.
“No, it’s from the heart,” they told Parade.
