Meet Robyn Crawford: Whitney Houston's best friend and former romantic partner
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Robyn Crawford, a close collaborator and Whitney Houston's best friend, was by the music icon's side since her self-titled debut album release in 1985. Crawford's relationship with Houston was under the public's scrutiny, and some have always speculated their bond to be more than a friendship. Crawford was an integral part of Houston's life for over two decades.
Houston's biopic, 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' featuring Naomi Ackie as Houston and Nafessa Williams as Crawford, explores the love affair between the music icon and her closest confidante, as chronicled in Crawford's 2019 memoir, 'A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston'. The book confirmed their romantic relationship, which had long been the subject of rumors, and now the biopic has brought their story to the screen along with the depiction of the late singer's rise from obscurity to a musical icon.
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Where is Robyn Crawford now?
Currently living in New Jersey, Crawford is now married to Lisa Hintelmann and they have two children together. She is also a New York Times best-selling author, thanks to her memoir 'A Song for You' which revealed the intimate details of her relationship with Whitney Houston that she was never able to talk about while Houston was alive. Crawford has since spoken publicly about their 20-year relationship in interviews and talk shows, as per PEOPLE.
Crawford admitted that the two had a close romantic relationship and eventually got intimate. "It was during that first summer that we met, was the first time our lips touched. And it wasn't anything planned, it just happened. And it felt wonderful. And then, not long after that, we spent the night together. And that evening was the night that we touched. And that just brought us closer," she said in an interview with Dateline NBC.
'She just came into my life all of a sudden'
"Our friendship was a deep friendship. In the early part of that friendship, it was physical," she added in the interview. She also added that she was not shocked on discovering their relationship was becoming physical. "No, I wasn't surprised. I was in that moment. It was ours. She just came into my life all of a sudden," she said. "I didn't know how long it was going to last but I was just enjoying the moment. And that's what we did, we just enjoyed it."
The two reportedly met while they were working as counselors at a summer camp in East Orange, New Jersey, in 1980. Crawford wrote in her memoir that Houston ended the physical part of their relationship one day in 1982. "She said we shouldn't be physical anymore because it would make our journey even more difficult," she wrote. "She said if people find out about us, they would use this against us, and back in the '80s that's how it felt."