Whitney Houston’s mother has written a tell-all memoir
By Bookmarked - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 0 Comments
In her new book, Remembering Whitney, Whitney Houston’s mother asks: “How would you like it if [Bobby Brown] had anything to do with your daughter?” leaving little doubt, if there was any, as to how the author feels about her ex-son-in-law.
Houston’s mother admits to believing that her daughter, whose drowning death last year in a Las Vegas bathtub was complicated by both cocaine use and heart disease, would have been better off without Brown: “It would have been easier for her to get sober and stay sober. Instead she was with someone who, like her, wanted to party,” she writes. “To me, he never seemed to be a help to her in the way she needed.”
In a recent telephone interview with The Associated Press, Cissy Houston admitted that she has had no contact with Brown–who divorced her daughter in 2007–not even regarding her granddaughter Bobbi Kristina.
Houston, who writes in the book that Whitney could be both “mean” and “difficult”, told The Associated Press that her motivation for writing it was so that the world would not think the worst about her daughter.
Find the interview with Cissy Houston here.
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Bobby and Chris Brown: Why we can’t forgive their violent pasts
By Emma Teitel - Friday, February 24, 2012 at 4:35 PM - 0 Comments
Did the Grammys really need to celebrate a man guilty of the same crime that ruined Whitney Houston’s life?
Vinny Carchietta/Zumapress/Keystone Press
The sudden death of Whitney Houston on Feb. 11, and the tribute-filled Grammy ceremony that followed the next day, were overshadowed for many by the onstage performances and Grammy victories of R & B singer Chris Brown (no relation to Bobby). Was it really ideal for the Grammys to celebrate a man guilty of the same crime that plagued Houston for so many years, at the hands of her ex-husband, R & B singer Bobby Brown? Brown (Bobby) is said to have physically abused Houston until their marriage ended in 2007 (he was charged with domestic violence in 2003), and Chris Brown was convicted of felony assault and sentenced to five years’ probation for brutally beating his then-girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, in 2009 (the night before the Grammys, no less). Brown (Chris) performed live twice at the awards this year, and took home a trophy for best R & B album. Country music singer Miranda Lambert was the most forthright about her sentiments in a tweet she sent after the show. “Chris Brown twice? I don’t get it. He beat on a girl. Not cool that we act like that didn’t happen.”
But “we” weren’t the only ones who acted like it didn’t happen. First, there was Chris Brown’s now-notorious tweet in response to Lambert et al.: “HATE ALL U WANT. BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY Now! That’s the ultimate F–K OFF!” Brown’s handlers, maybe guessing that winning a trophy doesn’t exonerate you for hospitalizing your girlfriend, removed his tweet. (Brown did not apologize for posting it.) Then came the disturbing onslaught of tweets from (mostly female) Brown fans who said they would relish the opportunity to be beaten by Chris. Meanwhile, in his half of the clueless universe, Bad Bobby Brown was acting as though the wife-beater who had terrorized Whitney Houston was some other Bad Bobby Brown. Directly following her death, at a concert in Maryland, he announced: “I love [Whitney] like a love God! I am badass Bobby Brown!” and proceeded to make customary obscene hand gestures to female audience members. A week later, ignoring the strong wishes of some family members, he showed up at Houston’s funeral, along with a nine-person entourage, and further distinguished himself by complaining about the seating arrangements. He was subsequently asked to leave the funeral. Critiques of his mourning strategy were not positive.
