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Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s mother, is reportedly writing a book and says it will clear all the “lies” about her late daughter’s life.
According to the New York Times, Cissy Houston, 78, met publishers at a hotel here last week to negotiate the release of the tome.
Cissy Houston is reportedly aiming to set the record straight about her late daughter’s troubled life and her death.
Whitney Houston died on February 11 at Beverly Hilton Hotel in LA. She was 48.
Cissy Houston is reportedly writing a book and says it will clear all the "lies" about her late daughter's life
“She said: <<There are so many lies out there and I want to dispel all of those lies>>,” contactmusic.com quoted a publishing executive as saying.
The publication reports Cissy Houston will use a ghostwriter for the book.
Monique Houston, Whitney Houston’s former sister-in-law and ex-wife of Gary Houston, speaks out for the first time in an exclusive interview with Ebony.com about being shut out of the family and why the singer’s death was not a surprise for her.
Monique Houston said she is aware of the consequences and she made the mistake of speaking out years ago about what she said was a pattern of enabling within the Houston family. The result? She was cut off. Monique Houston was married to Gary Houston and the two share a son and daughter. But this time, Monique Houston says she will not be silent.
Like most people who’ve ever been affiliated with Whitney Houston and who have spoken out since the singer’s death, she says she wasn’t surprised at how her story played out. But the culprit, Monique Houston says, is that for years there’s been a pattern of enabling, and she hopes that by speaking out now, she’ll help save the next generation of the Houston clan.
EBONY: Why do you want to talk now?
Monique Houston: If it’s not now, when? I just really had to speak out about the cycle that has gone on for a number of years. Now is the time for me really to take this situation and speak about it. So that’s where I’m at now. I’ve really tried to shield my children. They’ve dealt with a lot over the years and I really try to shield them from a lot of negativity that would come their way, but now that they are adults and they’re as healthy as they can be under the circumstances, I think they’re prepared for what’s ahead and some of the realities.
EBONY: It sounds like you really weren’t all that shocked at how things unfortunately ended for your former sister-in-law, is that correct?
MH: No, I wasn’t shocked. I was caught off guard. You know, we all prayed that she would recover and …recovery with a drug addict is an ongoing process. But she just was so healthy and beautiful from the press that came out of Sparkle, that it just totally caught me off guard. I really was sitting back and looking forward to the movie actually coming out and what would happen for her with that. So I was really caught off guard, but unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised.
EBONY: When was the last time you’d actually spoken with her?
MH: Many years ago. I left right after her wedding to Bobby Brown. I left my husband around that time, and then I think I had Thanksgiving with her and Bobby and Mrs. [Cissy] Houston about a year or two after that. So that was one of the last times I had actual contact with her.
EBONY: What do you think the real issue was? You kind of say that the burden of being Whitney Houston is what ultimately killed your former sister-in-law. What do you mean about that, specifically?
MH: Well, it was a large image to live up to. I mean, the image they created for her was a part of who she was, but it wasn’t the whole person. And I feel that trying to live up to that perfect type of pop diva type of image they created for her was a lot of weight. Trying to live up to what everybody in her family wanted or needed from her was a huge responsibility for her also. And then the media just picked at her constantly and always questioned her lifestyle … I just feel like that was an awful lot of pressure.
Monique Houston, Whitney’s former sister-in-law and ex-wife of Gary, speaks out for the first time since the singer’s death
EBONY: Did you ever talk with her about that pressure back when you all still had a relationship and were talking more frequently?
MH: We never talked about the pressure, per se, but anytime that she did have down time, you could really get a general sense that she cherished it. It was an awful lot to get out there and work. The road was very demanding and tiring and Whitney was really a homebody. I believe she did love to sing, but my opinion is the performance end of it and the rigors of that really took a toll on her as well.
EBONY: How about your children? I know that they’re older, but how are they handling it? And what have you said to them about it?
MH: It was really devastating. The first thing they did was basically to come home and withdraw a little bit. My son didn’t want to go to school—he’s finishing up at Morehouse. The conversation I have had with them has been the truth over the years. My ex-husband was arrested for drugs in North Carolina (when they were kids). So here I am as a parent trying to shield them and not have them watch TV and they go to school and somebody in the first grade says, ‘Your father was arrested for drugs; he’s a drug dealer.’ You know? Or they would come at them, ‘Oh, your aunt’s this or your aunt’s that.’ Over the years, I
had to always reassure them, and educate them, and be honest with them. I’ve always been honest with them about their father’s addiction. I had to also prepare them for the reality of what would be coming out in the press, as far as their aunt was concerned.
EBONY: Are you concerned about any backlash from the Houston family, talking about some of those issues now?
MH: Not really, because I’ve been through so much with them. I basically raised my kids on my own. I’ve had a lot of different issues with my ex-husband and his wife over the years. Mrs. Houston doesn’t speak to me after I did speak out publicly about six years ago about some of the issues that I was having. I also made comments on the “Being Bobby Brown” reality show. So the relationship between my kids and the Houstons has not been a straight line. Whatever relationship they choose to have with their family in the future … I don’t feel that I could negatively affect something that hasn’t been fluid to start with. I told my kids that they have had a lifetime to get to know my children and the door was always open for access. This information I’m revealing is kind of like ‘don’t kill the messenger.’ It’s hard to hear, and a lot of people don’t want to hear it, but it’s the truth. And sometimes the truth is painful.
EBONY: What are you hoping happens after this interview?
MH: Well my hope is for the next generation in the Houston family. I can’t really hold a lot of hope for the adults. I think a lot of the adults in the family have had a responsibility to have healthier relationships within the family and they haven’t. So I really would hope my kids and their cousins would be able to take some of the information and apply it to their lives and move forward. I hope Bobbi Kris can find a healthier lifestyle in the future. I don’t’ know what environment she is in, but that’s one reason why I came forward. I just felt like some of the denial and some of the covering, which is part of enabling, it has to stop now—not only for my children’s benefit but for her wellbeing going forward.
EBONY: You’ve expressed concern for Bobbi Kristina. Are you thinking she’s jumping into the business too soon?
MH: If this is what she wants, I believe in educating yourself or framing or studying your craft if that’s what she wants to do. I think that she does need some type of focus as far as something to do with her life and direction and I was really pleased that somebody like Tyler Perry did reach out to her. He would be an excellent mentor for her as far as some of the things he’s been through, how he’s come through and how he’s flourished. I think she could learn a lot from his story, as far as survival and recovery—that may help her. I just felt that the Oprah interview was just a little too soon, as far as timing.
EBONY: Do you have a relationship with Bobbi Kristina?
MH: No, I don’t. When I walked away, I walked away. I didn’t expect to have any continuing relationships, necessarily. I did have one with Mrs. Houston, but that fell apart. And the only thing I’ve wanted was that my children have those healthy relationships—which sometimes did not happen.
EBONY: Are they close with your ex-husband?
MH: Not at all. Not at all. That’s really, right now—in my opinion—a toxic relationship.
EBONY: What’s something you would love for the world to know about your former sister-in-law? What’s something that maybe wasn’t as obvious to the rest of us as was to you?
MH: She just had a great sense of humor and she loved to laugh. And you know, that’s the thing that I think about the most —when she was relaxed at home it was all a bunch of laughter and jokes and being silly—especially with her brothers, and her brother Michael. So that’s the biggest thing. She loved her nieces and her nephews. She loved having children around. When she would be backstage—either coming off stage or going on—when the kids were little, she liked to sit them on her lap, and I think that calmed her down a lot. So just the fun-loving person that she was. And one thing that I wish that she could have done was continue acting, and even have been in a comedy cause she just had that wit that a lot of people didn’t get to see.
Whitney Houston was “deeply, psychologically and emotionally” affected by her voice’s deterioration shortly before her death, says her vocal coach and friend, Gary Catona.
Gary Catona said Whitney Houston’s whole personality had been changed by the deterioration of her voice through smoking and drug abuse before she was found accidentally drowned at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in February.
He told The Sunday Times newspaper: “She was horrified by it. When someone is a singer at that level, their voice is so much of who the person is. She identified with her voice. It was not possible for Whitney to be affected very deeply, psychologically and emotionally, by the fact she couldn’t sing.”
Gary Catona said Whitney Houston’s whole personality had been changed by the deterioration of her voice through smoking and drug abuse
Gary Catona – one of the world’s leading voice coaches – first met Whitney Houston in 2005, at which point she could barely speak. He says he managed to get her voice to return by around 75 per cent, but she never fully recovered before she would then “take off” and damage it again.
He added: “As her voice started returning, lo and behold, her personality began changing, just as I predicted. She became more confident, she became who she really was – funny, charming, an intelligent person. Her self-esteem began rising.
“But what would happen was that I would work with her, and she’d get her voice back to some extent, and then she’d take off.
“She’d try to sing here, or she’d try to sing there. Rather than getting her voice back completely, which would have secured her legacy, she got caught up in her lifestyle again and she began practicing the habits which were not beneficial to her voice.”
Whitney Houston was found face down in the bathtub of Beverly Hilton with a bloody nose and the remnants of cocaine nearby on February 11. The Beverly Hills Police Department cited cause of death as accidental drowning with drug abuse and heart disease also factors.
A video showing Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown smoking pot out of a bong while partying with friends last year splashed online this week from the National Enquirer.
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s family members were said to be worried about the young daughter spiraling out of control after the loss of her mother and once the video was shown, reports begin to ask if she was out of control.
A family friend confides to RadarOnline that Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, is having some wild times.
The source said: “She’s drinking, smoking weed and abusing prescription meds.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s family members were said to be worried about her spiraling out of control after the loss of her mother Whitney Houston
The 911 call made when Whitney Houston’s body was discovered was released this week, which can’t have been easy for Bobbi Kristina.
“She’s self-medicating to deal with her heartbreak and it’s only making things worse,” explains the source.
“She’s on a self-destructive track and will end up just like her mother if she doesn’t find help.
“She desperately needs rehab and therapy, but she doesn’t want to hear that,” adds the insider, noting that a Houston family intervention had failed.
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A sequel to Waiting to Exhale, Whitney Houston’s 1995 hit, may be in the works, despite the star’s death.
Based on a Terry McMillan novel, the movie starred Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine as four girlfriends dealing with bad relationships.
Before her death, Whitney Houston had completed her first film since the 1996 holiday comedy The Preacher’s Wife. Her last movie, called Sparkle, is a remake of a 1976 film about a girl group, and also stars Jordin Sparks.
There was talk of Whitney Houston continuing her transition back to film with a Waiting to Exhale sequel, but in the event of her drug-related death, all possible plans were halted.
A sequel to Waiting to Exhale, Whitney Houston's 1995 hit, may be in the works, despite the star's death
However, in a recent interview with Good Day LA, co-star Loretta Devine said that development may continue without Whitney Houston, adding: “Now the focus would be a tribute to her, which would be wonderful. We don’t know if they’re going to try to introduce a new character or pull her character out all together.
“So it’s a lot of rewrites that they’ll have to go through, so I don’t know if it’s going to happen as soon as we thought it would happen.”
There has been talk of a remake of another Whitney Houston movie, the highly successful thriller The Bodyguard. Singer Rihanna has ruled out a role in the film, though she has expressed interest in playing Whitney Houston in a possible biopic.
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Newark residents will have to cover the cost of Whitney’s Houston’s four-hour funeral policing in amount of $187,000.
It was a touching farewell watched by millions across the world, but it is the residents of Whitney Houston’s hometown Newark, New Jersey, who will be covering the high security costs.
Taxpayers will have to foot the $187,000 bill in police overtime, which amounts to 5% of the city’s $4 million annual budget.
Whitney Houston’s family brought the singer back to Newark, where thousands of people lined the streets to pay their respects and celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey attended the service.
Nearly 200 police officers were stationed at the New Baptist Church, the funeral home and a family gathering at the Newark Club afterwards, reports CBS2.
In Westfield, where Whitney Houston was buried in a private ceremony, $9,000 was spent in police overtime, according to the overtime figures released to CBS2.
A Newark official said that the cost was unavoidable to ensure public safety.
Newark residents will have to cover the cost of Whitney's Houston's four-hour funeral policing in amount of $187,000
“I was able to be witness to the thousands upon thousands of people who were desperate to attend service but held back by barriers and officers of the law.
“If they had not been there someone may have been trampled, seriously hurt,” Democratic Councilwoman Mildred Crump told CBS2.
However, some residents say that although they adored Whitney Houston they are unhappy about having to fork out for the costs, especially as the public were not allowed anywhere near it reports BCS2.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous when you have people who are unemployed and homeless, people walking up and down the streets,” Newark resident Quincy Ruffin said in the report.
Quincy Ruffin told CBS2 that Whitney Houston’s family should be responsible for covering the costs.
“If they wanted it to go that far, do that much, they should have been the ones providing for it.”
Whitney Houston, 48, was found dead in the bathroom of her room at the Beverly Hilton hotel on February 11.
According to a final autopsy report released this week, Whitney Houston had cocaine throughout her system and detectives found white powdery substances and a spoon with white residue in the room.
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s relatives have been very worried about her behavior since the death of her mother Whitney Houston in February 11 as she has allegedly been taking prescription pills, drinking heavily and smoking marijuana to cope with her loss.
According to the Star magazine, Bobbi Kristina Brown’s aunt Pat Houston recently arranged for several close family members and friends of the teenager to speak to her about her substance use, but their words fell on deaf ears.
A source said: “Everyone is worried sick about Krissy … her aunt Pat got a number of her friends and family to come to Atlanta and have a serious talk with her about her sobriety. There were lots of tears, but Bobbi Kristina didn’t listen.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown's relatives have been very worried about her behavior since Whitney Houston’s death
Pat Houston has even asked Whitney’s long-term mentor Clive Davis to speak to Bobbi Kristina – whose father is the late singer’s ex-husband Bobby Brown – about her problems in a bid for to alter her lifestyle.
The source added: ”Clive keeps telling Bobbi she needs to go to rehab, and that if she does, he’ll help launch her music career. He’s doing everything he can.”
Whitney Houston died from accidental drowning due to the effects of heart disease and cocaine use in February aged 48. She had a long history of substance abuse and had admitted to Oprah Winfrey she took cocaine in a candid 2009 interview.
American Idol contestant Jessica Sanchez wasn’t even born when Whitney Houston released her hit How Will I Know, but she sang the song like a pro on Wednesday night.
It was the second time Jessica Sanchez, 16, has covered Whitney Houston on American Idol (she sang I Will Always Love You on the first finalist live show), and the judges lavished on the praise.
Guest mentor Gwen Stefani called Jessica Sanchez’s voice ridiculous while Randy Jackson praised her maturity.
In her intro segment, Jessica Sanchez talked about being a regular teen into boys and shopping.
It was the second time Jessica Sanchez, 16, has covered Whitney Houston on American Idol
At age 11, Jessica Sanchez had already appeared on America’s Got Talent. She already has a stage persona named Bebe Chez, much like Beyonce’s Sasha Fierce. In other words, she’s a seasoned pro.
Jessica Sanchez later teamed up for powerhouse singer Joshua Ledet for a rousing duet to I Knew You Were Waiting On Me, for which they earned a standing ovation.
Jennifer Lopez even postulated Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet could be the final two.
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Cissy Houston has been left “devastated” and “inconsolable” over the L.A. County Coroner’s Autopsy Report that makes it clear Whitney Houston was deep into cocaine when she died.
Cissy Houston, 78, was telling close friends she cried hysterically when she first heard about the Coroner’s findings – that white powder (which was tested positive for cocaine), a drug spoon and other trappings of drug use were found in Whitney’s hotel room.
Whitney Houston’s mother says her biggest fear is that people will now remember her daughter as a druggie, and not a talented singer and family woman.
Cissy Houston says her biggest fear is that people will now remember Whitney Houston as a druggie, and not a talented singer and family woman
Cissy Houston singled out Whitney’s performance of the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl, saying: “This is the type of thing people should remember Whitney for.“
Cissy Houston added: “No one’s perfect. Only the Lord can judge.”
Penny Marshall, the director of the 1996 musical drama The Preacher’s Wife, deemed the recent death of Whitney Houston a “very sad” loss.
“She was a great girl, and we got along fine,” the television star turned movie director said about guiding Whitney Houston through the 1996 musical drama The Preacher’s Wife opposite Denzel Washington.
“She sang beautifully, but like a baseball player doesn’t pitch every day, you had to schedule certain things at certain times. You have to take the actors into consideration.”
Penny Marshall also took the use of Whitney Houston’s vocal talents seriously: “I went to her mom’s church in Newark [N.J.] and I went to Denzel’s church out here [in Los Angeles], and we auditioned choirs. I had never done anything with music of the current time, because most of the movies I did were period pictures. Awakenings was, certainly A League of Their Own was, and so was Riding in Cars With Boys.”
Penny Marshall deemed the recent death of Whitney Houston a "very sad" loss
With Big and Jumpin’ Jack Flash also on her resume, Penny Marshall cut her directing teeth on several episodes of the classic ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, now seen on The Hub. Along with Cindy Williams and their co-stars, she’ll be honored for the show with the Fan Favorite Award as the 10th-anniversary TV Land Awards are televised by that network Sunday, April 29.
Laverne & Shirley was run by Penny Marshall’s brother Garry, who would become a noted movie director himself (Pretty Woman, Beaches), and she says pretty much anyone who worked on the show had the opportunity to direct. “It’s hard to do a series,” she reflects.
“You do a show a week, and sometimes, we didn’t love the dialogue so much … so we found physical ways around it. It became about behavior.”
Lately, Penny Marshall has been directing television again, with Showtime’s United States of Tara and ABC’s According to Jim among those credits.
“All they do is watch monitors now,” Penny Marshall says.
“They don’t know everything that’s in front of an audience. We didn’t have video feeds back then. It was, <<A camera, you got it? B camera, you got it? C camera, you got it? Fine.>> And they’d tell you the truth.”
Calling the shots on more TV shows isn’t out of the question for Penny Marshall.
“I don’t do vampires, I don’t do car crashes, and I don’t do people in big metal outfits,” she reasons.
“That’s what they spend the money on now in features, and with any movie you want to do, you have to shoot them fast and they don’t pay enough. I’d rather direct television.”
A number of items once belonging to Whitney Houston commanded slightly more than $82,000 at the Hollywood Legends auction this weekend, with most items drawing much higher bids than they were originally estimated to bring in.
The highest-selling Whitney Houston item, a beaded bustier that had been sold during a 2007 court-ordered debt auction, drew $18,750. In the catalog for the auction, the estimated value is listed as $4,000 to $6,000.
Also commanding a handsome price, a grey velvet gown that Whitney Houston wore to her mentor Clive Davis’ pre-Grammys party in 1996. The gown, which was also sold during Whitney Houston’s 2007 debt auction, pulled in $11,520, and had been listed in the catalog in the $1,000-$2,000 range.
The highest-selling Whitney Houston item, a beaded bustier that had been sold during a 2007 court-ordered debt auction, drew $18,750
The items were sold off as part of the Hollywood Legends auction held in Beverly Hills by Julien’s Auctions. Other items up for bid included a bowler hat, cane and suit owned by film icon Charlie Chaplin and a Christian Dior gown worn by Grace Kelly.
A vest and two pairs of earrings worn by Whitney Houston in her breakthrough film The Bodyguard were also auctioned off, raking in a combined $8,700.
Whitney Houston was pronounced dead on February 11 after being found submerged in the bathtub in her room at the Beverly Hilton hotel by a member of her personal staff. An autopsy later determined that she died of accidental drowning, and that cocaine and heart disease contributed to her death.
Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s mother, has spoken out for the first time since the star’s death to reveal she does not hold herself responsible.
Cissy Houston, 78, opened her heart to local television station My9 following almost two months of silent mourning.
While she is devastated by Whitney’s sudden passing, Cissy Houston also said there is nothing more she could have done to save her substance abusing child.
In the interview, which airs on Monday, the elderly gospel singer said: “I know I did the best I could.
“I don’t blame myself. I know I did the best I could for everything.”
Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother, has spoken out for the first time since the star's death to reveal she does not hold herself responsible
Speaking at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, Cissy Houston also said Whitney tried to help her family as much as she could.
Whitney Houston’s mother said: “My children are my whole life. She was very special to me… she was my only daughter, and a good one. [She] looked out for her family.
“I’m very proud of my daughter, she accomplished a whole lot in the short time that she had here.
“She was a very wonderful person.”
Cissy Houston spoke to the news station at the church where her 48-year-old daughter was laid to rest following her death in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11.
And she said she is still not recovered from the shock of discovering Whitney had died.
Cissy Houston, who famously appeared in the video for Whitney’s hit Greatest Love of All, said: “I have my moments.
“I’m not there yet. I don’t think I’m any more courageous than anyone else.”
“I am a true believer in God, if I could bring her back I would, but that’s not possible.”
Cissy Houston is under even more family stress at the moment, as her granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, plans to marry Nick Gordon, a longtime friend who’s known as her “adopted” brother.
According to the Star magazine, Cissy Houston vehemently disapproves of the engagement.
Whitney Houston’s home in Atlanta, that Bobbi Kristina Brown lives in, was actually not hers and her daughter has to pay rent, say new reports.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, is working hard for the money, reported HollywoodLife.com.
Insiders told the celebrities’ website that Bobbi Kristina Brown isn’t rolling in dough since inheriting her mother’s estate.
“Whitney didn’t own her town home in Atlanta,” a source said.
“She rents it and now Bobbi is having to pay rent.”
Whitney Houston’s home in Atlanta, that Bobbi Kristina Brown lives in, was actually not hers and her daughter has to pay rent
And now Bobbi Kristina Brown just landed her first acting gig on Tyler Perry‘s new sitcom For Better or Worse.
Whitney Houston’s daughter had told Oprah Winfrey that she wanted to pursue acting and singing like her late mother.
Despite reports that Cissy Houston, Bobbi Kristina Brown’s grandmother, is trying to get her boyfriend Nick Gordon evicted from the town home is false.
“Cissy can’t get Nicholas out of the house because they don’t own the house,” the source said.
Dolly Parton explained how Whitney Houston, despite having a spiritual upbringing like hers, didn’t “make sure she was surrounded by the right people, and the right things”.
“I’ve always had good and close friends, and a spiritual faith. God will take the wrong people and things out, and teach me to have the right people and the right things,” the singing legend said.
“Some people don’t have that, and that’s where it can go wrong,” Dolly Parton said during an interview about the British premiere of her musical 9 to 5.
The show is based on the 1980 film Nine To Five, about an abusive male boss (played by Dabney Coleman), and Dolly Parton starred in it with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
Dolly Parton is always grateful to Whitney Houston for making her song popular worldwide
Dolly Parton got to know Whitney Houston, who died last month, when the late singer covered Dolly’s composition I Will Always Love You for the soundtrack of Whitney’s movie The Bodyguard.
”I thank God every day for that song – and Whitney made it popular worldwide,” Dolly Parton said.
“It’s a very simple song, really, as simple as anything I’ve ever written.”
Dolly Parton takes her songwriting seriously and is pleased that “a few good numbers” she has written have stood the test of time.
“Like 9 to 5,” she said.
The musical ran on Broadway a couple of years ago and Dolly Parton’s score was the thing that stood out.
It was revamped on its U.S. tour by director Jeff Calhoun, who is hot at the moment thanks to the success of his new show, Newsies. It opened on Broadway last night, and already some folks are calling it the best musical of the season.
Jeff Calhoun will direct the UK version of 9 to 5, which will run at the Manchester Opera House from October 12 and then go on an extensive tour.
Bobbi Kristina Brown is pushing her family away after her father Bobby Brown’s shocking DUI and now they fear the worst.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, has been through so much since her mother Whitney Houston‘s death, including news that her father Bobby Brown was charged with DUI. And now her family are worried that she’s shutting down as a result of these difficult circumstances.
Bobbi Kristina Brown is pushing her family away after her father Bobby Brown’s shocking DUI
Whitney Houston’s daughter has been taking solace in the arms of Nick Gordon, Us Weekly reports. But those closest to her are concerned that is not enough to keep her safe, especially after the shocking autopsy results of her mother’s death were released.
“Everyone is worried about Bobbi,” a source close to Bobbi Kristina says.
“Bobbi just doesn’t want anyone’s help. She’s lost.”
Raffles Van Exel, Whitney Houston’s associate, will be questioned by Beverly Hills Police Department, according to new reports.
After Whitney Houston was found lifeless in the bathtub of her Beverly Hills hotel room on February 11, the Los Angeles County Coroner ruled her official cause of death was accidental drowning due to the effects of heart disease and cocaine use.
However, police are now keen to speak with Raffles Van Exel – a member of the star’s entourage – after he admitted to cleaning out the hotel room immediately after she passed away, allegedly removing vital evidence about Whitney Houston’s drug use from the premises.
A law enforcement source told RadarOnline.com: “Whitney’s family, including her sister-in-law Pat Houston had absolutely no idea that Whitney was using drugs again. The family has been extremely cooperative and they have been told that investigators want to speak to Raffles Van Exel about allegedly removing evidence from Whitney’s hotel room.
“The cops want to know who provided Whitney with the cocaine, but if someone tampered with the death scene, well, that could be against the law in California. Investigators have tried to make contact with Van Exel, but have been unable to do so.
“Since Van Exel is from Denmark, investigators assume that he may no longer be in the United States, and they very much want to talk to him.”
Police is keen to speak with Raffles Van Exel, a member of Whitney Houston's entourage, after he admitted to cleaning out the hotel room immediately after she passed away
Raffles Van Exel reportedly told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf he cleaned out Whitney Houston’s hotel room after she died, removing clothes and belongings and sweeping the floor.
Rffles Van Exel said: “Someone had to do it. The room was empty.”
Whitney Houston’s family recently admitted they were “saddened” to learn cocaine had played a part in her sudden death.
Patricia Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law and manager, said: “We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure.”
Sir Elton John has revealed he took so much cocaine that is a “miracle” he didn’t end up dying an addict, like Whitney Houston.
As Elton John, 65, confessed if he hadn’t kicked his drug habit in 1990 he would be dead, rumors began circulating that the singer and husband David Furnish could be having another child.
“I’d probably be dead,” Elton John declared.
“I didn’t want to end up like Whitney Houston and I could so easily have ended up like her.”
“It’s a miracle I didn’t because I’m sure I did as much cocaine as she ever did.”
Elton John’s revelations come just six weeks after Whitney Houston was found dead in the bathroom of her Beverly Hills hotel room aged just 48.
Last week, a newly released toxicology report showed Whitney Houston had cocaine in her system when she died.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner said the tests revealed Whitney Houston had been a “chronic user”.
Elton John has revealed he took so much cocaine that is a “miracle” he didn't end up dying an addict, like Whitney Houston
Elton John, who married partner David Furnish in 2005, has always been open about his battle with drugs and alcohol.
Rumors began circulating online that the pair is having a second child, they already have one-year-old Zachary, but these are currently unconfirmed.
A source told the Daily Mirror: “The wheels are in motion. David and Elton have never hidden their desire to extend their family, and believe the time is right for another child.
“By the end of this year, or the beginning of next year, there will be a fourth member of the John-Furnish clan.”
Elton John has previously described his old self as a “real mess” and said getting sober and clean in 1990 was his “greatest achievement in life”.
Yesterday during a US television interview, Elton John said his life could have taken a different turn if he hadn’t overcome his addictions.
“I would not be the person I am today. I wouldn’t have Zachary, I wouldn’t have David, I wouldn’t have anything,” said the musician.
Elton John also opened up about how he suffered at the hands of bullies as an adult, and revealed he was the target of physical and mental abuse.
“It was about control and their being able to keep me under their thumb,” Elton John said.
“I was a perfect candidate for it. Even though I was famous and a big deal, it doesn’t matter – it’s who you are underneath that. I was always kind of shy and intimidated.
“One was violent and the other two were mentally violent. They were very important people in my life. They were important in my career and in my personal life.”
Elton John said he felt “scared” by the abuse and was “hit by people, physically”.
The singer did not reveal the identities of his attackers but said the bullying had taken place “in certain relationships that I’ve had”.
“Someone that was close to me and involved with my career,” he added.
Elton John said he was worried that his son Zachary would also become the target of bullies because he does not have a typical family situation.
“I know, by being two same sex parents, that when my boy goes to school he’s probably going to have some people saying <<Er you don’t have a mummy>>,” he said.
Asked how he planned to deal with the situation, Elton John said: “We’ll sit down with him before he goes and say <<listen, if anyone says something mean to you come and tell us and we’ll try and help. Stand up for yourself>>.”
Gushing about the one-year-old, who was born to a surrogate mother on Christmas Day in 2010, Elton John said: “He’s been the greatest joy that I could ever imagine.
“If I’m blue, if I’m down, I just get my iPad out and look at photographs of him and a smile comes across my face. If I’m not with him I cuddle my pillow and pretend it’s him.
“I thought I experienced love when I’d been with David for 18 years, and that’s incredible love, but David will say the same thing – there’s no love until you have a child.”
Elton John said he had been working with Zachary’s godmother, Lady Gaga, on an anti-bullying campaign and was desperate to “nip this in the bud”.
“Too many people have died. Too many young people have committed suicide because they’ve been, you know, frightened of 15 or 16-year-olds,” Elton John said.
“It’s got to be stopped and it can be stopped. But we can only stop it by making people realize the consequences of their actions and punishing them.”
Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston’s cousin, is opening up to Entertainment Tonight about the singer’s death and reveals what she thinks killed the pop superstar.
When asked what she expects to hear when authorities issue a final cause of death for Whitney Houston following the results of toxicology tests, Dionne Warwick said: “You know, in all honesty, I think she had a heart attack, that’s what I think happened to her.”
Dionne Warwick, 71, also spoke about the feelings she had while accompanying Whitney Houston’s body aboard the plane that transported the Grammy winner back to her native New Jersey.
“It was a combination of things, stories, laughter, tears. All the emotions that you feel when somebody very near to you passes.”
Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston’s cousin, is opening up about the singer’s death and reveals what she thinks killed the pop superstar
When asked about possible drug use playing a role, Dionne Warwick added: “I don’t know if it’s that or not. I think her heart just gave out.”
Dionne Warwick said she felt Whitney Houston “had everything in the world to live for.”
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.
NBC News has reportedly licensed photos from Whitney Houston's hairstylist Tiffanie Dixon for two of its shows
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.”
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Whitney Houston and her mother Cissy shared an unbreakable bond, and the legendary star attributed her passion for singing to her mother, the acclaimed Gospel star.
Though Cissy Houston has remained private about her grieving, she penned an open letter to her daughter Whitney that was placed in the program of her home-going service, according to TMZ.
Whitney Houston and her mother Cissy shared an unbreakable bond, and the legendary star attributed her passion for singing to her mother
“Dearest Whitney:
The presence of God blessed our home with life, love, joy and peace. You and your brothers were the center of divine love attracting God’s richest blessings. You were a child of God. We had so much love in our home that was truly from on high.
You always gave without expecting anything in return and our love was the force that multiplied these blessings higher and higher. I never told you that when you were born the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long and I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise and cherish for 48 years.
God said it’s time Nippy; your work is done. The other day on February 11th He came for you. But not without warning. For two months now I have been depressed, crying, lonesome and sad not knowing why.
On Saturday, before I found out about your transition, my doorbell rang. I went to answer it but there was no one there. It rang again and again, no one was there so I called the concierge to tell him someone was ringing my doorbell. He checked the cameras and told me that no one was there. You promised me you were coming to spend time with me after the Grammys. I believe the spirits allowed you to come after all.
How I love you Nippy and how I miss you, your beautiful smile, your special little things you used to say to me and sometimes you’d call just to say “hi Mommie, I love you so much,” I loved you so much more.
I love you,
I’ll miss you,
Thank you for being such a wonderful daughter.
Rest my baby girl in Peace, you’re now in the arms of Jesus.
Love, Mommie”
A plane believed to be carrying Whitney Houston’s body has landed in her home state of New Jersey, after leaving from LA.
In a news conference on Monday, Beverly Hills police spokesman Lt. Mark Rosen said fire department officials were told the singer was found unresponsive on Saturday morning.
“Ms. Houston was pulled from the tub by members of her staff and hotel security was promptly notified,” he said.
“First aid and CPR measures were performed in an attempt to revive her,” he said, adding that after unsuccessful attempts, Houston was pronounced dead at 15:55 local time.
The police spokesman played down reports that prescription drugs might have been involved in Whitney Houston’s death.
“Our intent at Beverly Hills Police Department is not to fuel the speculation or rumors that are circulating right now,” Lt. Mark Rosen said.
“We can’t comment on where those rumors have come from.”
However, the Los Angeles’s coroner’s office then said there were bottles of prescription medicine in the room, although it did not provide further details.
“There weren’t a lot of prescription bottles,” said Ed Winter, the coroner’s assistant chief.
“You probably have just as many prescription bottles in your medicine cabinet.”
Earlier, the coroner’s office confirmed Whitney Houston’s body was released to her family late on Monday morning.
Whitney Houston’s body arrived at Whigham Funeral Home, in Newark, New Jersey
Whitney Houston’s body was then flown from Van Nuys Airport in the Los Angeles area east to New Jersey, where a funeral will be held at the end of the week.
Sales of Whitney Houston’s albums have soared on both sides of the Atlantic following her death in Los Angeles.
Whitney – The Greatest Hits is at two on the US iTunes chart, while Whitney Houston – The Ultimate Collection is second in the UK iTunes chart.
By the end of her life, Whitney Houston had thrown away every last scrap of the poise and beauty that had made her the ultimate diva of her generation.
Leaving a Hollywood nightclub two days before her death, Whitney Houston was drenched in sweat and disoriented a wad of mint chewing gum visible in her gaping mouth.
Blood from a cut trickled down her leg, but the singer herself, surrounded by party-loving hangers-on, didn’t seem to notice.
Alternately waving and cursing, this was not the Whitney Houston who conquered the world – a church-going supermodel with a once-in-a-generation voice of exceptional power and sweetness.
This was a woman who, despite at least three attempts at rehab in the past eight years, appeared fully in the grip of drug addiction: wired, wrecked and out of control. Inside the club, it is claimed, Whitney Houston nearly came to blows with a partygoer who she felt had “got into her face”.
So why could nobody save Whitney Houston? In truth, having spent almost two decades destroying herself, she was past saving.
Her voice, with her signature, high-octave power note, had been pitifully diminished by years of abuse, particularly the smoking of crack cocaine. The soaring vocals had become a soft, whispery falsetto.
“She doesn’t want to come, my soprano friend,” Whitney Houston told a booing concert audience in London in 2010.
The years of material plenty were behind her, too. Whitney Houston was reportedly once again “flat broke”, even though she should have had a fortune well in excess of $160 million.
Indeed, despite earning up to $30 million with a colossal 50-date global tour only two years ago, she was reportedly this month reduced to asking her great benefactor, Clive Davis, the music mogul who “discovered” her, for hand-outs yet again.
Whitney Houston’s home in New Jersey was said to be in danger of being repossessed. Another home in Atlanta already had been.
The legendary singer was partying at the Beverly Hilton only because she was on someone else’s tab: the record label was paying for her to be with them in the run-up to last night’s Grammy awards.
There were hopes of yet another album from Whitney Houston, despite the relatively poor performance of her comeback in 2009, and she had recently been in the studio. She had also finished making a film, Sparkle, a showbiz saga about a trio of singers, which Sony has announced will still be released in August.
Whitney Houston’s most recent romantic partner was a 31-year-old rapper, Ray J, who is chiefly famous for being the man in a homemade sex tape shot in 2003, which made reality star Kim Kardashian famous.
Ray-J is also the cousin of rapper and drug advocate Snoop Dogg, so he was not the kind who might have been counted on to keep her on the straight and narrow.
Whitney Houston and Ray-J had an on-and-off four-year liaison, which her fans felt had depressing echoes of her mutually destructive marriage to “bad boy” rapper Bobby Brown, who she divorced in 2007.
Whitney Houston pictured in 2006, sick and haggard
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born in 1963 in Newark, New Jersey, and her mother was the successful gospel singer, Cissy Houston. Her cousin was Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin was her godmother.
Known as Nippy as a child, Whitney Houston was the youngest of three children. Her mother divorced John Houston, an Army serviceman, but Whitney remained close to both parents.
They supported her in her dreams of stardom – a fact she later said accounted for her enormous self-confidence.
From the age of five Whitney Houston would sing in the choir at the All Hope Baptist church in Newark, where the family worshipped.
As a teenager, Whitney Houston started to get involved in the music business. Aged 15, she sang backing vocals on the Chaka Khan hit I’m Every Woman.
Clive Davis of Arista records first laid eyes on her in 1983, when she was 20, and was bowled over.
Her first album, Whitney Houston, was released two years later, yielding the No 1 hits The Greatest Love Of All, How Will I Know and Saving All My Love For You. It remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist in music history.
Her second album, Whitney, released in 1987, included the hits I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. It sold 25 million copies worldwide.
Whitney Houston would often travel with her mother. Also always present was her “executive assistant” Robyn Conway, her best friend at school, who she said was “like a sister” to her. She put Robyn Conway on her payroll, but was she something more?
Whitney Houston always denied the persistent rumors she was bisexual, and claimed people got the wrong impression only because she didn’t start dating until she was in her late 20’s.
In 1989, Whitney Houston met Bobby Brown at a music awards show, and they married in 1992. Daughter Bobbi Kristina was born a year later.
Whitney Houston was at the peak of her fame, thanks to the film The Bodyguard and the colossal cover version I Will Always Love You.
But outside the spotlight, her life was far from perfect. Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown had settled in a huge mansion in New Jersey, complete with a pool and recording studio, but the marriage was not happy. He was accused of domestic violence against her in 1993. Whitney Houston said he had slapped her during a jealous argument.
In his autobiography, Bobby Brown hints she deceived him about her true sexual orientation and that their marriage was designed to cover up her bisexuality.
“I realize Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married,” Bobby Brown said in his book. “I believe her agenda was to clean up her image; mine was to be loved and to have children.”
Talk of her impossible behavior began to circulate as Whitney Houston started failing to turn up to events, including a celebration of the career of her mentor, Clive Davis.
Whitney Houston admitted in a recent interview that she would take cocaine “every day” in the mid-Nineties.
The singer became skeletally thin and appeared disoriented at times. She was fired from a slot on the Oscars ceremony in 2000 after singing the wrong song at rehearsals.
Later that year, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown were found to be carrying marijuana on a trip to Hawaii.
In 2002, Whitney Houston gave a notorious interview in which she denied taking crack, on the grounds that it was “too cheap” a drug for her.
“We don’t take crack. Crack is whack,” Whitney Houston said. Nobody was very convinced by her denial.
Clive Davis tried to get her into rehab in 2004, with an ultimatum that they could not work together again if she didn’t clean up.
In 2005, Whitney Houston’ sister-in-law leaked pictures to the Press of her bathroom in Atlanta – a sordid, dirty space covered with crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia – to try to shock her into sobriety.
In 2005, Whitney Houston’ sister-in-law leaked pictures to the Press of her bathroom in Atlanta, a sordid, dirty space covered with crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia
In 2006, Clive Davis tried again. Whitney Houston recalled in an interview: “Clive called me one day and said: <<OK, are you ready now? I’m tired of seeing what I’m seeing. I want you back.>>”
In denial about her problems, Whitney Houston said she resisted because she was happy being a mum to Bobbi Kristina. Finally, though, Clive Davis persuaded her that she needed to conquer her addictions and attempt a professional comeback.
The singer Courtney Love had told Clive Davis that the one person who could help Whitney Houston was a former addict named Warren Boyd.
Fabled in Hollywood as the person who got actor Robert Downey Jr. off drugs, his view is that addicts need to have a sober coach to live with them 24/7.
After residential rehab for several months in Pennsylvania, Warren Boyd “secured the perimeter” around Whitney Houston, relocating her to a rented beachside shack in Laguna, Los Angeles, and keeping her away from family and friends – and dealers – in New Jersey for months at a time.
Eventually, Whitney Houston felt strong enough to end her marriage to Bobby Brown. It had been the unhappiest of unions, raven by jealousy and drug use. They were divorced in 2007.
Whitney Houston said she and Bobby Brown started doing drugs together daily around the time of The Bodyguard film, and that Brown couldn’t handle her stardom.
“I think somewhere inside, something happens to a man when a woman has that much control or that much fame.”
Whitney Houston also said that he was unfaithful. “The only thing I did was the drugs. He was too promiscuous, dragging dirt into my home. It disturbed me.”
Getting her off drugs cost more than $1,300 a day for three years – the bill being picked up by Clive Davis. He also paid off a $1.2 million debt on her home.
The debt was pretty extraordinary given that Whitney Houston had sold more than 140 million albums worldwide by then. In the event, the subsequent album, I Look To You, was a damp squib. Released in 2009, her five-octave vocal register was gone thanks to smoking and crack use.
And when she launched the album at a hotel in London, it appeared that without the help of Warren Boyd she had fallen back into her old ways. A nugget of what seemed to be crack cocaine fell from one of her pockets.
There were repeated problems on the tour. Whitney Houston couldn’t hit the high notes and seemed to struggle even to chat with the audience. High-profile promotional gigs – singing on TV chat shows – revealed her ragged form.
And there were still plenty of signs of her infamous temperament. She wouldn’t film in the mornings, and refused all offers of live televised interviews. Clive Davis called her “the most impossible person” he had ever worked with.
Whitney Houston said repeatedly that her teenage daughter Bobbi Kristina helped her to sobriety. In 2009, she said: “She was with me every step of the way.” But the truth seems rather darker.
Her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, now 19, was pictured last year snorting lines of cocaine at a party, smoking joints and drinking beer.
A former boyfriend told the National Enquirer magazine: “Krissi is addicted to cocaine. I’ve tried to stop her, but all she said was: <<I’m just like my mother!>>
“It was difficult to stop her from buying alcohol and drugs because her mother gave her $1,000 a week.”
Last May, Whitney Houston entered rehab for one final time. Sadly, it appears not to have worked. She was out of control on an airplane to Houston in the autumn, when she narrowly avoided arrest after refusing to buckle her seatbelt.
It seems that despite global fame and a constantly supportive family, nothing was enough to keep her clean.
“I have a mother who is very strong and a family that surround me and constantly tell me they love me. And my daughter is my greatest inspiration. She loves me,” Whitney Houston said in an interview earlier this year.
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