Whitney Houston dead

[Yuriatin]

Re: whitney houston dead at 48

<span style="font-style: italic">Saaaaame</span> ones who ridiculed her saying she wasn't black enuff - her music was too white - she was gay - this, that, the other ... remember that one? For YEARS people said she was gay. Then she gets married and they knock her for Bobby.

Oh boy.


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: xKs</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">the hipocrisy abounds..even as people on the various shows MOUTH sorrow over her death,. they continue to spread rumours
</div></div>

well said..

its like in the twilight zone.. All the outpouring of grief since her death, from the SAME people who use to ridicule her during her battles with drugs.
This world is filled with unwitting comedians mi tell u..


</div></div>

[Gen]

Re: whitney houston dead at 48

yuh know is last night mi member the &quot;gay&quot; argument and my mind ran on her friend that she always hung out with and wonder if they ever kept in touch after she got married

aye sah

[Yuriatin]

Re: whitney houston dead at 48

Yes - they did keep in touch. But there did come a point where they weren't as close as they once were. That was her childhood friend Robyn Carter.

Just like a long list of other peeps who get dragged thru the mud (Alicia Keyes, Oprah, etc, etc) they were never gay - just best friends.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gen</div><div class="ubbcode-body">yuh know is last night mi member the &quot;gay&quot; argument and my mind ran on her friend that she always hung out with and wonder if they ever kept in touch after she got married

aye sah
</div></div>

[Yuriatin]

Re: Whitney's Best Friend


Whitney Elizabeth Houston, 1963-2012<span style="font-size: 17pt">
<span style="font-weight: bold">A look back at the star from one of her closest friends</span></span>
<span style="color: #FF0000">By Robyn Crawford</span>



I met her when she was 16. It was at a summer job. I was working at a community center in East Orange, New Jersey, and she was working just like the rest of us. She was there to work. She introduced herself as &quot;Whitney Elizabeth Houston,&quot; and I knew right away she was special. Not a lot of people introduced themselves with their middle names back then. She had peachy colored skin and she didn't look like anyone I'd ever met in East Orange, New Jersey.

She was nothing like the Whitney Houston she became but at the same time she was already there. She knew, and so did everyone around her. She was doing shows in Manhattan with her mother, and she'd change her clothes in the car and get on stage and do her thing. She hadn't signed her contract yet. But she was modeling for Wilhelmina because she was discovered on the street. She was walking in front of Carnegie Hall and someone walked up to her and said, &quot;There's a modeling agency upstairs that's looking for someone just like you.&quot; She walked upstairs and they signed her. That's what it was like, that's what she gave off. She looked like an angel. When my mother first met her, she laughed and said, &quot;You look like an angel, but I know you're not.&quot; And she wasn't. But she looked like one.

She chose the life she lived, and she chose it from the beginning. She knew the life better than anyone. Her mother was Cissy Houston, and she had been on the road with Dionne Warwick. She got her chops singing in church, and her mother said to her, &quot;You know, you can always sing for free. You can always sing in church. You don't have to choose the professional life.&quot; But she chose because she'd been chosen. Some people sing just because. She was never like that. She had to put on her gear. She knew it was going to be a job and that's how she treated it. Once she committed to something, she finished it. Not long after I met her, she said, &quot;Stick with me, and I'll take you around the world.&quot; She always knew where she was headed.

And we went around the world. I was her assistant and then her executive assistant and then her creative director. I was her point person for the day-to-day. I traveled all around the world first-class and anyone who ever worked for her will tell you her checks never bounced. You knew she was going to take care of you. She wasn't going to be in a five-star hotel while you were in a two. I flew the Concorde the way some people ride the bus. She shared the fruits, and she changed a lot of lives. The record company, the band members, her family, her friends, me — she fed everybody. Deep down inside that's what made her tired.

It was never easy. She never left anything undone. But it was hard. The Bodyguard was great when it was done, but it was a lot of work. She did the movie, she did the music, she did everything — and when she was done, she was done. She nailed it. The music supervisor brought her Linda Ronstadt's version of &quot;I Will Always Love You&quot; way before Kevin Costner brought Dolly Parton's version — and she always knew what she could do with it. So when Kevin came in and played it for her and told her he wanted her to sing it for the movie, she said, &quot;Fine.&quot; She wasn't much for showing off what she had, except when she had to.

I always compare her performance of that song with a great athlete hitting his peak — with Michael Jordan in the playoffs. It was the absolute pinnacle of what she could do, of what anyone could do — and then she had to keep on doing it. Everybody wanted to hear her sing that song, and so she sang it. It didn't matter whether she had a cold, or wasn't in good voice; she had to deliver it, and she had it arranged so she could deliver every last note. And even if the note wasn't there, the feeling was. A lot of her songs were like that. They were a lot to deliver, but she delivered them every note, every time.

It's so strange that she died when she did. February was her month. Her first album was released on Valentine's Day, right around the time of the Grammys, right around the time of Clive Davis's party. It was an orchestrated thing. She was Clive's girl, his great discovery. And she died right before Valentine's Day, right before the Grammys, right before Clive's party. Of course, she was going. I don't know if she was singing, I don't know what kind of pressure she was putting on herself. But she was going, that's for damned sure.

People thought they had to protect her. She hated that. And that's what people don't understand: She was always the one doing the driving. Someone just called and told me that the family kept Whitney from seeing her. Nobody kept Whitney from doing anything. She did what she wanted to do. When people left her or were told to leave, they could never believe that Whitney would never call them — but she never did. She was working hard to keep herself together, and I think she felt that if she admitted any feeling of sadness or weakness she would crumble. One time, back when we were young, we were out, we were partying, and I said, &quot;Listen, I have to go. I'm tired. I can't make it.&quot; And she looked at me with her eyes wide and said, &quot;I've got to make it.&quot;

And that was Whitney. She could not pick up the phone, and that meant it was too painful. I have never spoken about her until now. And she knew I wouldn't. She was a loyal friend, and she knew I was never going to be disloyal to her. I was never going to betray her. Now I can't believe that I'm never going to hug her or hear her laughter again. I loved her laughter, and that's what I miss most, that's what I miss already.

I'm trying not to think of the end. I'm trying not to listen to all the reports. All these people talking about drugs — well, a lot of people take drugs, and they're still around. Whitney isn't, because you never know the way the wind blows. I just hope that she wasn't in pain and that she hadn't lost hope. She gave so much to so many people; I hope that she felt loved in return. She was the action, for such a long time. She's out of the action now. I hope she can finally rest.

—as told to Tom Junod

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/music/whitney-houston-6654718

[Yuriatin]

Re: Whitney's Best Friend

And you watch that dirty, nasty, no talent Ray J pop up any minute now - sellin' some ish story. Disgusting ...

[evanovitch]

Re: Whitney's Best Friend

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I just hope that she wasn't in pain and that she hadn't lost hope.</div></div>

this sums up why she should have kept her trap closed...if u not in contact n dont know n if u respect wat u had wid har, u wudden jine di speculating club juss fi ur soundbite

[Nunya]

Re: whitney houston dead at 48

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Saaaaame</span> ones who ridiculed her saying she wasn't black enuff - her music was too white - she was gay - this, that, the other ... remember that one? For YEARS people said she was gay. Then she gets married and they knock her for Bobby.
Oh boy.
</div></div>

Yeah, I was/am one of those who knock her for Bobby. He was, in my opinion, the death of Whitney as I knew her... still cannot fi de life of mi, si whe she did si eena im...

[evanovitch]

Re: whitney houston dead at 48

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nunya</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Saaaaame</span> ones who ridiculed her saying she wasn't black enuff - her music was too white - she was gay - this, that, the other ... remember that one? For YEARS people said she was gay. Then she gets married and they knock her for Bobby.
Oh boy.
</div></div>

Yeah, I was/am one of those who knock her for Bobby. He was, in my opinion, the death of Whitney as I knew her<span style="font-weight: bold">... still cannot fi de life of mi, si whe she did si eena im...</span> </div></div>

Bobby have dem thick fingers wich mean thick elsewhere... just like how my lady marry Seal based on seeing him in bicycle shorts, Whitney was having her bell rung... forgive di moment of levity...bad boys can be sexy to a good girl but i wudden marry one...just enjoy di moment

[evanovitch]

how low can they go...mercy

dem resurrect a comment she made at her 25th birthday party...she said, I made 25...u know how smaddy would sah,yeah i made it to 16,21. juss the age dem is on dat day...but NOW it is being introduced as her OMINOUS statement bak den

[Yuriatin]

Re: how low can they go...mercy

Wow! Wow, wow, wow ... on CNN Piers Morgan ...

Both Jennifer Holiday (who I ADORE) and Chaka Khan just said that Whitney had used drugs long before she met and married Bobby Brown.

This is not news to me but it is SHOCKING to me that they put this out there. Wow. And Chaka saying how close they both were. i don't know if I'd find there a NEED to say all this stuff. Then again, what do I know.

<span style="font-style: italic">(it's common knowledge here in NJ that her half brother had long, long struggles with drugs)</span>

[Gen]

Re: whitney houston dead at 48

I think most people had those thoughts when she married him, however, I was talking to someone last night and them mek mi know seh Bobby admit in him book that is she introduce him to drugs. Mi did put that down to well maybe him a try sell books, but apparently some people around her did know seh she start do it long before she met him.

I don't know if these are just more rumors and that her &quot;image&quot; was not as it appeared to be, cause mi never really follow news bout her.

Dem a seh it important to point this out cause Bobby is being blamed for her spiral.


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nunya</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Saaaaame</span> ones who ridiculed her saying she wasn't black enuff - her music was too white - she was gay - this, that, the other ... remember that one? For YEARS people said she was gay. Then she gets married and they knock her for Bobby.
Oh boy.
</div></div>

Yeah, I was/am one of those who knock her for Bobby. He was, in my opinion, the death of Whitney as I knew her... still cannot fi de life of mi, si whe she did si eena im... </div></div>

[Nunya]

Re: whitney houston dead at 48

wow, really? I've always been under the impression that a im pwile har... wow!

[Gen]

Re: how low can they go...mercy

was there ever a source where whitney admitted to doing it before she met bobby ?

mi know Newark's reputation but maybe is because mi nuh follow entertainment news why mi never hear she seh this

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Wow! Wow, wow, wow ... on CNN Piers Morgan ...

Both Jennifer Holiday (who I ADORE) and Chaka Khan just said that Whitney had used drugs long before she met and married Bobby Brown.

This is not news to me but it is SHOCKING to me that they put this out there. Wow. And Chaka saying how close they both were. i don't know if I'd find there a NEED to say all this stuff. Then again, what do I know.

<span style="font-style: italic">(it's common knowledge here in NJ that her half brother had long, long struggles with drugs)</span>




</div></div>

[Yuriatin]

Re: how low can they go...mercy

I've never heard her come out and say the words with her own mouth, no. And what's more, I don't think she ever would say that - even if she wanted to.

But she's always said she's straight from the hood and no innocent.

Anyway, doesn't even really matter in the long run I guess. Like so many others, she's gone and gone to soon. Everyone waiting with baited breath- like vultures to hear the cause of death - why? What diff does it make? Do they all just want to say <span style="font-style: italic">&quot;toldja so!&quot;</span> ?

Anyway here's the Oprah interview ...

[Yuriatin]

WhitneyOprah part 1

<span style="font-weight: bold">PART 1</span>
---
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Whitney Houston Tells All</span>

September 14, 2009
Whitney Houston opens up to Oprah.

With more than 140 million albums sold worldwide, icon Whitney Houston is the most awarded woman in music history. Her powerful presence filled the screen in The Bodyguard, which made more than $400 million worldwide. The film's soundtrack remains the best-selling of all time. But behind her megastar success, Whitney hid the intense personal pain of her tumultuous 14-year marriage to R&amp;B star Bobby Brown and a battle with drug abuse.

Whitney retreated from the spotlight after a controversial 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer.

In 2003, she faced more media attention after calling 911 to report that her husband hit her. The police report said Whitney had a bruised cheek and a cut inside her upper lip. Still, she refused to press charges. He was not convicted and has publicly denied ever hitting her.

The couple went public once again in 2005 on Bravo's reality show Being Bobby Brown.

Whitney has stayed silent about it all—until now. Back with her first album in seven years, I Look to You, she's sitting down with Oprah and opening up like never before about her past, present and bright future.

**

Oprah: The very first time I had you on my show, however many years ago, I thought, &quot;You are 'the voice.'&quot; ... There was a time, I read, where you were actually thinking in this past seven years—because you haven't done an album since 2002—that you were thinking of, I read, going to an island and having a fruit stand?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> Yeah. ... Growing organic fruit with my daughter on a little island on the beach and everything, living the simple life. You have to understand, I have been all around the world ... and I'd done it all at that point in time, or I thought. However, I wasn't remembering the gift that God had given me. I had totally put all that aside. And my daughter was growing up before my eyes, and I just wanted to grab hold of that. ...

At that time in my life, I was going through such trauma. ... I thought that was enough for me. I had the money. I had the cars. I had the house. Had the husband. Had the kid. And none of it was really that fulfilling. For a time, I was happy. I was happy, but I needed that joy. I needed my joy back. I needed that peace that passes all understanding.

Oprah: There's a wonderful quote by the L.A. Times. They said, &quot;The pain, and frankly, disgust that so many pop fans felt during Houston's decline was caused not so much by her personal distress as by her seemingly careless treatment of the national treasure that happened to reside within her.&quot; ... You were not like any of the others. You really were given the voice. You were given that treasure. And people felt, how could you not know that that was to be treasured?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> I knew in the days when I was a teenager singing for God. I was so sure. When I became &quot;Whitney Houston&quot; and all this other stuff that happened, my life became the world's. My privacy. My business. Who I was with. Who I married. And I was, like, that's not fair. I wanted to go to the park. I wanted to walk down the street with my husband, hand in hand, without somebody looking at us or having the media always in my business. ... I just wanted to be normal.

...

Oprah: It's so interesting that you would say that because for years I have thought that, in many ways, the Whitney Houston that we have seen has been a creation of the media. That obviously your voice and your talent is what it is. But the gowns, the hair, that first video, all of that stuff was a creation.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> Yes. ... I love to get dressed up and I love to do makeup and hair and stuff, but that was my performance. That was my entertainment.

Oprah: And then when you were expected to be that all the time?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> That was too much. ... Too much to try to live up to. Too much to try to be, you know? And I wanted out at some point.

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's wedding

Oprah: Was marrying Bobby a way to be out?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> [Nods.] In a sense, because he allowed me to be me. He was fun. Passionate. Loving. It was crazy. We were crazy love.

...

Oprah: But there were so many people who felt because the image had been painted. There you are in the gowns and the this and the red carpet. ... Was that strategic on your part?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> The princess marries the bad boy. ... It really wasn't. I was at the Soul Train awards show. He came on thestage singing My Prerogative. He was fly. He could move, man.

Oprah: Were you first interested in him or he interested in you?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> He was interested in me.

Oprah: Really. What did he say?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> Bobby was more like: &quot;Hey, check this out, I want to ask you something, you know? If I was to ask you to go out with me, would you say yeah?&quot; I said: &quot;Yeah, I would. I certainly would.&quot; And then from that moment on, we clicked. We were friends. Three years we went out before we got married. Three years we dated. Jet-setted all over the world doing what we wanted to do.


Oprah: And the fact that everybody thought, &quot;What is the princess doing with this guy?&quot;

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> They don't have any idea about that sweet, gentle tenderness about him that nobody knew. He was a very quiet person. When that entertainer came out onstage, he did that thing. But at home, he was very much the father. He was very much the man. He was very much in control. I liked that because I was in control of all my stuff, and here he comes along and everybody was like, &quot;Wow, she's got somebody now.&quot; When he said something, I listened. I was very interested in having someone have that control over me. It was refreshing.

Oprah: It was refreshing because in every other aspect of your life—

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> I was in control.

...

Oprah: Well, one of the things that I recall in an interview that you did with Diane Sawyer in 2002, the world was shocked when she asked you about addiction and you said if there was an addiction, it was an addiction to making love.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> Yes. We did a lot of that. Lots.

Whitney Houston on her marital problems
Oprah: When did it start to go wrong? Can there be too much passion?

<span style="font-weight: bold">Whitney:</span> Yeah, it can clash. ... After The Bodyguard. 1993, 1994, 1995 were filled with The Bodyguard years. That album lasted me. It went for a long ways. I was on a whirlwind by that point in time. I was going everywhere. That record was so huge. So I had my baby.

I had my baby in my hands, and I had the man of my life that I loved so very much who I was crazy for with me. And he had just put everything aside of his own, and just said: &quot;I'll go with you. Don't worry about it. Go do this thing.&quot; I think somewhere inside something happens to a man when a woman has that much control or has that much fame. ... If he doesn't have his own.

Oprah: Was he jealous of you?

Whitney: He's not going to like this, but yes.

Oprah: Then did you try to overcompensate?

Whitney: I tried to play down all the time. I did. I tried to play: &quot;I'm Mrs. Brown, everybody. Don't call me Ms. Houston.&quot;

...

Oprah: You started to dim your own light?

Whitney: Yep. Sure did.

Oprah: Do you still worry about pleasing him?

Whitney: No. Not at all. There's things I could say. I won't. Trust me, there's some things I really could say that he would really be mad about.

He never liked the fact that people would say: &quot;You're jealous of her. You're just jealous of her fame and her fortune and what she has&quot; and everything, and he would get really [censored] off. But it's not abnormal for a man to feel that way. Or to feel that he was lacking.

Whitney Houston discusses Being Bobby Brown.

Oprah: Was that why you agreed to do [reality show] Being Bobby Brown?

Whitney: Yes, I did. I just wanted people to know that I was his wife.

Oprah: Did you realize what you were getting yourself into when you signed up for that?

Whitney: I did not. ... I knew when I signed my prenuptial, though. I knew what I was doing there. But, however, no, I didn't know. I was in love. I was crazy in love. It didn't matter to me.

Oprah: Did he come to you and say, &quot;I'm going to be doing this show, and they're going to be putting cameras in our house&quot;?

Whitney: Oh no, I didn't know. I really didn't know. Because to me, it was just like, &quot;OK, I'm your wife. What do you want me to do?&quot;

Oprah: Did you all watch the show?

Whitney: Sure.

Oprah: And what did you think?

Whitney: I didn't know quite what to think. I knew I was trying to be Mrs. Bobby Brown. That's what I was trying to do without overshadowing the whole situation, which was difficult.

Oprah: So you did that for him?

Whitney: Yeah, I did. I did it for him. I did it with him. How could you not do a reality show, and I'm your wife, and not have me in it?

Oprah: There were many critics of it, and I think one of them called it a train wreck. Do you think it highlighted the dysfunction between you?

Whitney: Yeah, I do. I sure do.

Oprah: A lot of people, I think, after seeing you on that show, started to really worry about you and what was really going on with you. What was going on with you at that time?

Whitney: There were a few things.

Oprah: Were you happy?

Whitney: No. ... I wasn't happy with the marriage. ... I was losing me into that by trying to be pleasing.

Oprah: Were you also trying to—because the world had said it wouldn't last six minutes—were you also trying to prove the world wrong?

Whitney: I was determined to prove them wrong. So determined. And after awhile, you start to lose what the real concept is of the love. And you want to make a statement.

I was trying to make a statement. Like: &quot;You guys aren't gonna win. You're not going to do that. We got married. We were in love. We were crazy for each other. We're wanted to have a family. I'm just not going to let you do that to us. I'm just not.&quot; And so was he. He was determined. We fought for that. And then somehow it got really kind of messy and got lost up in there. And then we started doing other things that entered into the marriage that you just can't come out straight when you've got a lot of outside stuff going on.

Whitney Houston on drugs and whether Bobby Brown abused her.

Oprah: When did the drugs start?

Whitney: Before The Bodyguard it was very light. After The Bodyguard, I had Krissy, it started getting heavy.

Oprah: What was your drug of choice?

Whitney: Cocaine. And marijuana. That's it. But he liked to drink. I wasn't a drinker. The alcoholism, that's an ugly thing. Either you're going to be a really nice alcoholic or a really mean one. He was really mean.

Oprah: His personality would become altered when he drank?

Whitney: Oh, dramatically.

Oprah: Was he violent?

Whitney: He was afraid to do things with me because my family was very, very, like: &quot;Okay, boy. Remember. We told you once.&quot; So it was like he would walk kind of away from it, but me, I would become a little girl. I would become this little girl, like, wouldn't say anything. ...

Emotionally, he was abusive. Physically, no way. Because first of all, I was raised with two boys, and I will fight you back. I will fight you back with anything I can find.

...

Oprah: So, he never touched you.

Whitney: No.

Oprah: Never laid his hands on you.

Whitney: He slapped me once, but he got hit over the head three times.

Oprah: By you?

Whitney: Yeah. Because I was, like, &quot;Okay, you're going too far.&quot;

Oprah: What's the worst thing he ever said to you that you can share?

Whitney: <span style="color: #FF0000">I just remember this moment. It was his birthday, and I gave him a party at a club in Atlanta, Buckhead. He drank a lot that night. He drank a lot. And for some reason, everything that I did I tried to do to make him happy—it would turn on me. It was weird. Today, I understand it because people that alcoholics love, they try to abuse.

So when we got back to the house—he's going to hate that I say this—but he spit on me. And my daughter was coming down the stairs, and she saw it. That was pretty intense. Because I didn't grow up with that, and I didn't understand why that occurred. But he had such a hate in his eyes for me.

Because I loved him so much. He cursed me all the way home in front of his parents, and then he spit on me.
</span>

Oprah: How did you feel?

Whitney: I was horrified. He spit on me, in my face.

Oprah: Was that a turning point for you, or did you wake up the next morning and push that down or place that someplace in your psyche?

Whitney: I was very hurt. Very angry. And I knew somebody, somewhere, something was going to blow. I called a friend. I said, &quot;Come get me now because it's at a turning point now,&quot; and I was almost two feet out the door at that point in time. I was ready to go.

And I asked [my friend] to come get me, and [Bobby] pushed me against the wall ... I was on the phone and I went back in and I took the phone and I hit him over the head with it. He just fell out on the floor. It was just drama. My daughter came down the stairs. She's, like, &quot;Daddy?&quot;

Oprah: Blood?

Whitney: Yeah. &quot;Mom, what did you—,&quot; [her daughter asked]. I said, &quot;I told him not to do it.&quot; I kept saying, &quot;I told him not to do this. I told him not to do this.&quot; It was just one of those moments. It was just hateful. Ugly.

Whitney Houston on drug abuse

Oprah: So we were talking about how [you did] light drugs before The Bodyguard and then after Bodyguard—

Whitney: Oh, got heavy. Because I knew then we were trying to hide pain. ...

Oprah: Because The Bodyguard which, to the world, was one of the biggest moments ever in the history of CDs, albums and catapulted you to a level of stardom—

Whitney: Right. And remember, I did Waiting to Exhale after that, and then that album was huge.

Oprah: And The Preacher's Wife after that.

Whitney: And Preacher's Wife. By The Preacher's Wife, [doing drugs] was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was everyday. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself. My mom came and got me twice and she would talk to me, and it was like, &quot;Okay, we don't know what's going on, but something's going on.&quot;

Oprah: Were you in denial about it?

Whitney: Not really. I just wouldn't talk.

Oprah: When did you know that that marriage was not gonna work?

Whitney: I just knew. I was like, &quot;You don't smell right. You don't look right. Something's going on.&quot; And then all this other stuff started coming out about him being with this one or that one or being too promiscuous. Dragging dirt into my home.

Oprah: Did that hurt you? Were you offended by it?

Whitney: It disturbed me. I was disturbed.

Oprah: Did you believe it?

Whitney: Yeah. Because I checked. I didn't look for it, but I checked.

Oprah: So the fact that he would be out with other women and would bring that into your home—

Whitney: Yeah, with my credit card? Absolutely. I had a problem with that.

Oprah: So you knew it was over, but you were still defending against it.

Whitney: Yeah, but I started moving furniture out of the house. I was little by little starting to take pieces of myself out of the home. And I even asked him to leave. And he said, &quot;No, you leave.&quot; I said, &quot;It's my house.&quot; ... And that was the time where he slapped me. But he was on probation for traffic violations. And he'd forgotten.

Oprah: Forgotten that he can't slap somebody.

Whitney: Yeah, you can't slap somebody when you're on probation. You're in violation then. So it went to domestic violence court, and I just could not see me putting him in jail.

Oprah: So were you always appearing and making those court appearances because you felt you had to stand by your man?

Whitney: I had to. Yeah, I'm his wife.

Oprah: You know what I get now that I didn't get then as just an observer in the world? ... What I now get is that you took those vows seriously.

Whitney: Very, Oprah. To my heart.


Bobby Brown was not convicted and has publicly denied ever hitting Whitney Houston.
Oprah: Tell me how bad did it get, the drugs?

Whitney: When you don't speak and you live in the same home and you're sitting right next to that person and you're not saying a word for a week? You're just sitting there? And you're just watching TV? That's bad. ...

Oprah: You're just watching TV and doing coke? Or are you smoking?

Whitney: We were lacing our marijuana with base. We weren't on crack. We weren't on no crack stuff. We weren't buying $20 jumbos. We were paying money. We were buying kilos and ounces and ounces. We would have our stash.

Oprah: But you were freebasing cocaine.

Whitney: Basically. ... We weren't doing pipe smoking. We didn't get that far.

Whitney Houston on using drugs as an escape
Oprah: Did the drugs give you any sense of relief?

Whitney: At times. Don't forget, there were some times we'd laugh our tails off. We had a ball. Sometimes you do have a good time. But when it gets to the point where you're sitting in your home and you're just trying to cover what you don't want people to know. It's painful. And then you want more just so that you don't let anybody see you cry. Or anybody to see we're not happy. ...

Oprah: And so you thought that your life as Whitney Houston, as we know her, was done?

Whitney: I wasn't even thinking about that. I had so much money and so much access to what I wanted and everybody was [asking] me&quot; &quot;What do you want? What do you need?&quot; I didn't think about the singing part anymore.

Oprah: You didn't miss it?

Whitney: No.


Oprah: You said you realized that the marriage was going to be over. Did you then make a decision that &quot;I'm gonna get myself out&quot;?

Whitney: Yeah. I remember saying to God one day, I said, &quot;Give me one day of strength.&quot; Because I was weak. I was so weak to [Bobby]. I was so weak to the love. I was, like: &quot;This is love? What is this? What am I into?&quot;

Oprah: Were you weak to him or were you weak to the drugs? Because the world's perception is you were weak to the drugs.

Whitney: He was my drug. I didn't do anything without him. I wasn't getting high by myself. It was me and him together. You know, we were partners. And that's what my high was. Him. He and I being together. And whatever we did, we did together. No matter what, we did it together.

Oprah: Because you were his wife.

Whitney: Yes. And he was my husband. And I'm gonna make this happen and we're gonna make this work. And that's the way it was.

...

Oprah: Were there days where you were drugged and didn't know what was going on? Because remember there was a time, I can't remember what year it was, that your sister-in-law sold pictures of your bathroom to the tabloids

Whitney: I wasn't there then

Oprah: And she said that there were days that you would lock yourself in a room and you would stay there and you would not speak to people for days. Is any of that true?

Whitney: Sure.

Oprah: Would you just sit in your room and do drugs?

Whitney: Yeah. Talk on the phone. Watch TV. Listen to gospel. I would still read my Bible, amazingly enough. I would still read my Bible. I still had it in me. I knew God was there. I knew the light was there and I was just trying to get back to it. I just kept trying to get back to that spirituality.

Whitney Houston describes Bobby Brown's erratic behavior
Oprah: Did you think something was gonna happen in those drug-crazed, drug-filled days where you're sitting for hours and days?

Whitney: There were times when he would smash things, break things in the home. Glass. We had a big, big giant portrait of me and him and my child. He cut my head off the picture. Stuff like that. And I thought, &quot;This is really strange.&quot; So I figured, cutting my head off a picture, that was a little much for me. That was one sign.

And then there were other things like he started to paint in my bedroom eyes. Just eyes. Evil eyes that were looking at every point of the room.

Oprah: He started to paint on the walls?

Whitney: Yeah. The rugs. The walls. The closet doors. If I opened the door, there would be one picture. Then I'd close them and there would be another picture and eyes and faces. It was really strange. ...

Oprah: What are you doing with all of that?

Whitney: I'm looking at it going, &quot;Lord, what's really going on here?&quot; I was getting scared because I felt something was going to blow. Something was going to give.

Watch Whitney tell this story. Watch

Oprah: How long were you in rehab?

Whitney: I did my stint. You do your 30 days. I went to one where I could take my child with me. Everywhere I just had to have her with me. I wanted her to understand. I didn't lie to her. I couldn't.

Oprah: Really. Did you explain to her about the drugs?

Whitney: Yes.

Oprah: What did you say? How do you tell your child?

Whitney: I kind of associated it with our lifestyle. Our lifestyle. And what could happen.


Whitney Houston on her mother's intervention

Whitney: I got out of that program and it continued. The drugs didn't stop. So one day my mother came to my house. It's kind of funny. But now looking back at it, I see the love and the passion that my mother had for me, that she has for me.

She walks in with the sheriff and she says: &quot;I have a court injunction here. You do it my way or we're not going to do this at all. You're going to go on TV, and you're going to retire. And say you're going to give this up because it's not worth it.&quot;

Oprah: Your mama came to your house with the sheriff?

Whitney: She said, &quot;It's not worth it.&quot; She said: &quot;If you move, Bobby, [the sheriff will] take you down. Don't you make one move.&quot; And he stood there like he was scared.

And she said: <span style="color: #FF0000">&quot;Let's go. Let's do this. I'm not losing you to the world. I'm not losing you to Satan. I'm not doing this. I want my daughter back. I want you back. I want to see that glow in your eyes. That light in your eyes. I want to see the child I raised. And you weren't raised like this. And I'm not having it. So you make a choice, and you make it here today because I have a court injunction that says you have to go.&quot; ...
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Oprah: Was your mother saying you have to go to rehab, or was your mother saying you have to get out of this marriage?

Whitney: You have to go to rehab and make a decision with a clear mind.