New documentary on Whitney Houston shows how the singer got lost in a world of drugs and drove herself to her death
Whitney Houston latest documentary titled 'Whitney' shows the dark side of the life that the singer lived and which ultimately became the reason for her death. As reported by The Sun, the film, which has been directed by Kevin Macdonald and opens in cinemas on July 6, reveals that the singer was abused as a kid which had a lasting impact on her as a child. Her mother Cissy Houston a singer and while Cissy was away on tours her kids would be sent to her relatives in order to ensure they were in good hands.
One among the family members was Dionne Warwick's sister Dee Dee Warwick. In the film, it has been alleged that Dee Dee had sexually abused Whitney and her brother Gary. Whitney’s aunt and assistant, Mary Jones, recalled the singer narrating the incident to her which she alleges took place when Whitney was between seven and nine years. “She looked at me and said, ‘Mary, I was molested at a young age. But it wasn’t by a man — it was a woman," she said.
"She had tears in her eyes. She says, ‘Mommy don’t know the things we went through’. I said, ‘Well, maybe you need to tell her’. She said, ‘No, my mother would hurt somebody if I told her who it was," she continued. “She had tears rolling down her face, and I just hugged her.” She even revealed the offender was Dee Dee. This was later confirmed by Whitney's brother, Gary. The documentary also shows some of the old footages of the singer which shows her saying that one of the things she hates the most is child abuse. She, later on, began to self-medicate to escape from the bitter memories of her childhood.
It is believed that Whitney who got her melodious talent from her mother, took her young daughter Bobbi Kristina on tour with her because she did not want her daughter to experience the same things as she did. Little did she know she was going to walk her daughter into her own death. Bobbi grew up being surrounded in a world where alcohol and drugs was everything. Seeing all her relatives and people around her doing the same, it was only a matter of seconds that she was drawn towards the same.
At the age of 22, Bobbi suffered fatal brain damage and her unconscious body was found in a bath in 2015. Whitney’s sister-in-law, Pat Houston disclosed that it was Whitney's life that had a negative effect on Bobbi while growing up. "Bobbi had once taken a knife and slashed her arms. She hated her mother. She even wrote she wanted to find a way to kill her mother," Pat said.
Meanwhile, Mary added that Whitney felt a sense of guilt and ashamed to let the world know about what had happened to her. "I wonder if I did something to make her think I wanted her," Whitney had said of the abuse. "It made her question her sexual preferences, whether she really wanted a husband. I think she was trying to find herself," observes Mary.
At 18, Whitney left home and moved in with female friend Robyn Crawford, who many believed shared a romantic relationship with the singer. Her family and friends were convinced that the two were dating. Crawford eventually lost out to Whitney's husband when she gave the singer an ultimatum to choose between the two. What happened to Crawford and why she never returned to be part of Houston’s later years is another mystery.
Around the same time, the documentary shows that Whitney's mother had an affair with the minister of the church which was attended by the family. Whitney, who used to also perform at the church and had started her singing career there found the truth too hard to digest.
The affair led to the divorce of her parents and even though her father, John Russell Houston, had also cheated on her mother, she sided with him. Whitney's brother, Michael believes that she did not want the same to happen with her and thus, decided to stay with her husband, Bobby Brown even though he was abusive in the relationship. “The divorce really bothered her, it bothered me," he said.
While Whitney thought her idea to move in with her dad and to cut all the ties with her mother would prove to be good, it was her dad who really broke her heart. John was put on a payroll by Whitney, earning £370,000 a year, but he broke her trust when she found out that he was stealing from her. "She found out about it, all the money he stole. She cut him off," her brother Gary said. Whitney chose not to visit her dad on his deathbed in 2003. Meanwhile, her relationship with her husband, Bobby was crumbling down.
Gary insisted that Bobby had a lot to do with Whitney taking more drugs. “Bobby was a f***ing lightweight when it came to drugs. We used to pass Bobby by slapping him. Trust me," he said.
Michael confessed to “graduating” from cannabis to cocaine with his sister, with him being the first of the pair to try it. He added that he would go out and buy drugs for her when they were on tour, thinking it was just part of life in the 1980s. The brother concludes: “Little did we know, straight-up killer.”
Unfortunately, her personal life began crumbling after her divorce with Bobby, the singer was far gone into her addiction, her teeth fell out and she retreated into seclusion and ultimately was found dead in a bathtub with a cocktail of drugs in her system. Her demons had finally gotten the better of her.