Whitney Houston: The Daughter, The Singer, Her Life and Her Lover(s)

Alright, here are some of the facts that cannot be denied:

Whitney‘s toxicology report should be coming out between now and Friday, March 23.

Oprah Winfrey‘s OWN Network is not doing so well.  In fact, in February, she was criticized for Tweeting fans to watch her network, especially if they possessed a Nielsen box.  Nielsen reps quickly contacted OWN  regarding what they clearly felt was an unethical ploy by Winfrey to harsh the true ratings of certain shows and networks by influencing viewers to watch her shows.

I think that Oprah needed to do something to call attention to OWN and to raise her network’s ratings.  Hence, her inviting Houston’s sister-in-law, Pat, her brother Gary, and most importantly, Houston‘s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, for an interview on Oprah’s show, Oprah’s Next Chapter.  It will air at 8 p.m. Central, 9 p.m. Eastern.

To me, this is damage control for both sides tonight.  Whether this interview will be favorable towards Whitney and her daughter–if not Oprah–is anyone’s guess.

Pat Houston thinks “chasing a dream” and “looking for love in all the wrong places” is what killed Whitney Houston. I wish we had the autopsy and the toxicology report because odds are, she’s off the mark. Here’s the excerpt released from Oprah’s PR person Chelsea Hettrick. This excerpt suggests that blame is going to be laid on Whitney’s maybe/sometime boyfriend Ray J, brother of singer Brandy. That should be interesting, too. The blame used to be put on Bobby Brown. By the way, the interview is very controversial. Whitney’s mother, Cissy, is not in it. I am told that Whitney’s PR people were against it. The interview airs exactly 30 days after Whitney’s death.

Nobody has their hands on the autopsy and toxicology reports yet, unless TMZ can buy more than a clue. Numerous phone calls were made to the L.A. Coroner’s Office in recent weeks begging them to release the results as these self-described “family members” were claiming that they were convinced that Whitney was murdered and that they wanted the investigation into her death upgraded to that of a homicide.

No, I don’t think that this was a homicide, just like I thought Michael Jackson’s death was not a homicide.

Contrary to what this Forbes reporter said, it appears that Pat Houston was more supportive of Bobby Brown than he thought:

“I can’t say he introduced drugs to her,” Patricia said. “I don’t think that’s true. Bobby and I had a good relationship. She would always say, ‘You’re always protecting him.’ ”

Were they good together? “You couldn’t always tell. There was always so much outside interference.”

She also felt she had seen “the handwriting on the wall” for Whitney’s premature death. “I’d be kidding myself to say otherwise.” But she said Whitney was doing better. “It wasn’t about substance abuse relative to the latter days… it was just more of lifestyle.” (Not sure what she meant by that per se but we may learn more.)

“Lifestyle”?  Was Pat Houston hinting broadly about Whitney’s long-rumored attraction to women? Or was she aiming at the influence Whitney’s last love interest, thirty one-year-old Ray J, had with the older woman.  Ray J, actress-singer Brandy Norwood’s brother, who was rendered inconsolable at the news of Whitney’s death, is still said to be in mourning.  Ray J is notorious for appearing in the Kim Kardashian sex tape a while back.  I am not sure that he had that much of an influence on Whitney and her behavior.  As things go, she could do bad all by herself.

Pat is the administrator of Whitney’s will, and Bobbi Kristina is her mother’s sole heir who will inherit everything that is left of her mother’s fortune and effects.  After taxes and debts are paid, Bobbi Kristina may inherit less than $6 million dollars when she reaches the age of 21, and more money will be paid out to her when she is 25 and 30 years of age.  However, Global Grind is saying:

One label executive “familiar with Sony’s accounting,” said the late singer’s estate probably won’t see any royalty checks from her record label “in our lifetime” — and maybe longer — thanks in part to the number of advances and loans she took from the $100 million deal she cut with Sony Music in 2001.

On Wednesday, Wayne Rosso, an outspoken veteran of the music business who has consulted for CBS, Island, MCA, Arista and RCA Records, to name just a few labels, posted a report in his Wayne’s World blog titled, “Whitney to Sony: I Will Always Owe You.”

In it, Rosso estimated that Houston would have to posthumously sell more than 5 million albums “to repay her advances and start to get royalty checks.”

While that might not seem like a lot, Whitney’s greatest hits album would need to stay number one for six months in order to release that.

While Whitney Houston did sign a $100 million dollar deal, it’s believed Sony never wrote out a check for $100 million.

 Bobbi Kristina, who is said to be pondering dropping the Brown names and going by simply Kristina Houston, also has a voice and could also have a singing career—but hopefully not like her mother’s.  

However, it is rumored that Bobbi Kristina also has a substance abuse problem, and that at one point during the events after the funeral, she disappeared from view to smoke crack.  While several family and extended family and friends have stepped up to say that the girl was closely supervised and supported during this time, it is possible that addicts can shake off such supervision long enough to either smoke or shoot up because of the stresses of the day. 

It is also possible that these supportive members want Bobbi Kristina not only to recover from abusing drugs, but to have a career, hence her appearance on Oprah’s Next Chapter.  I tend to think that among these people, having a career is more important than getting over the tendency towards drugging.  And Bobbi Kristina has inherited addiction from both sides of the family.  Therefore, I can join some people who feel that it is a bit premature for this grieving young woman to be facing the public. 

Nonetheless, this appearance would take advantage of the concern and affection that many of her mother’s fans have towards the young woman.  A united front of denial, and denial by omission, may not lay to rest the recurrent rumors that Bobbi Kristina too is an addict and needs help.

There are at least a couple of websites I have visited that have shown Bobbi Kristina hanging out with friends and doing crack cocaine.  Even the Enquirer has published some of these kinds of photos.  And they are not fuzzy-looking.  Exactly when these photographs were taken, I have no idea, and I am not going to link them.

Do I believe that they are of Bobbi Kristina Brown?  Yes, I do.  There is no mistaking that this is Whitney Houston’s daughter with the face of Bobby Brown.   I think that she was not set up; I think that she simply did not care, and most addicts don’t care very much about their surroundings or even about some of the people that they are with when they do the drug.  When I see these photos, I am not convinced that Bobbi Kristina is a party girl.

Well, I will be watching.  And I’ll let you know what I think.

Related articles

• Ray J Says He Looks at Life Differently Now That Whitney Houston is Gone (shoppingblog.com)
• Bobbi Kristina Brown to Change Last Name? (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• The Last Will & Testament Of Whitney Houston Leaves Everything To Daughter Bobbi Kristina (pinkisthenewblog.com)
• Sister-in-Law Feared Drugs Would Take Whitney Houston (bulletfame.wordpress.com)

~ by blksista on March 11, 2012.