In her first interview since Whitney Houston’s death, daughter Bobbi Kristina spoke with Oprah, Sunday night, during an episode of OWN’s ‘Next Chapter’.
Oprah’s was personally invited to the Atlanta home of Patricia Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law, best friend and manager. After entering the home and getting a small tour, Oprah and Bobbi Kristina meet and speak very casually about her mom’s passing and how she’s been.
When asked just how she’s been coping Bobbi Kristina answers, “I’m doing as good as I possibly can. Just trying to keep going” She adds her family and her belief in the lord has been helping.
On her mother she says she still feels her spirit in the house and notes that it was very difficult to stay in her mom’s home the first night back after she had passed. Since then she says she’s found some comfort in knowing and feeling her spirit around her now, “I can hear her voice in spirit talking to me, ‘Keep talking to me. I got you’ (a phrase Whitney always said). She asked me, ‘Do you need me?’ And I caught myself, out of nowhere, I didn’t even know I said it, I said, ‘I’ll always need you.’ ”
On what kind of mother Whitney had been she replies, “She wasn’t only a mother. She was a best friend, sister, a comforter. Her spirit touched everyone.” She goes on to explain she had been her mother’s protector and although they had had their fights and disagreements they were each others protector and loved each other very much.
She also reveals she didn’t quite know the magnitude of her mother’s fame until her funeral, because, she was always just mom to her. She was moved by the out pour of love but adds that the people who are now showing their gratitude, she wonders, where they had been when her mom was in tears, in pain and needed someone.
On any last words about her mother and what she wants people to know, “They don’t know who she really was, everything that people are saying about her. All that negativity is garbage.”
On her plans for the future, Bobbi Kristina reveals “I have to carry on her legacy. We’re going to do the singing thing, some acting, some dancing.” Adding that her mother taught and prepared her for the business.
Oprah then sits down with Patricia for a more in depth interview. She speaks of their close relationship and that it wasn’t until the late 90’s that she and perhaps other members of the family realized Whitney was in trouble. She also says the family along with ex Bobby Brown‘s family tried to intervene in 2003 to help but ultimately the decisions were their own.
On Bobby and Whitney’s marriage she says there were too many outside influences, from their families and the media, which put a strain on their marriage. She says she believed they really loved each other but perhaps weren’t best for each other.
On people blaming Bobby over Whitney’s drug use she adds, “I can’t say she wasn’t introduced to drugs before Bobby.”
On whether Whitney was happy Pat says, “she was chasing a dream, looking for love in all the wrong places,” adding that Whitney was chasing a younger lifestyle with a younger man, hinting at her romance with singer Ray J. It was rumored the two had rekindled a romance. They were first reported as a couple back in 2008 and parted ways sometime in 2009.
On rumors Whitney had had an altercation with X-factor contestant Stacy Francis at a pre-Grammy party prior to her death Patricia says, “yes it’s true.” Although she never mentioned the singer’s name she said the “young lady” made her presence known all night, every where they went she was there and she nor Whitney knew who she was. Whitney and the woman exchanged words and although she couldn’t hear what Whitney said the “young lady [Francis] had been in tears. Following the altercation they left the event.
On the day Whitney passed Pat reveals the events leading up to her death. She says, “She [Whitney] had been asking for me all day and typically we would have had hotel rooms on the same floor but this time was different. I didn’t visit Whitney in the morning like I usually would have.” Whitney had been scheduled to shoot an infomercial, do some press among other things that day. When Pat made it to Whitney’s floor, the makeup artist had been waiting to enter the room and Whitney’s assistant, Mary, approached making her way into the room to make sure Whitney was ready. At this time Pat approached the room where the infomercial was to be shot (located on the same floor) and was stopped in her tracks when she heard Mary screaming. She turned to see what had happened and witnessed the makeup artist falling to the hallway floor. She began to walk towards them very slowly, she reveals, she recalls someone asking if everything was okay and she replied ‘call 911’. She confirms it was Whitney’s assistant, Mary, who had actually found her body. Her bodyguard, Ray, tried to revive her but was unsuccessful. This is when the paramedics arrived, also unsuccessful. Although she was advised to leave the room, she was frozen in shock witnessing as Whitney’s lifeless body was covered. And that’s when she knew it was over.
On whether Whitney had been using drugs leading up to the day she died Patricia says, “I don’t think drugs was an issue but I don’t know what happened that day.”
Whitney’s brother Gary later enters the room. He reveals he didn’t think this would have been her end. And although they had fears he didn’t think it would happen. He also reveals that their mother, Cissy Houston, however, had predicted Whitney didn’t have long to live and that she’s still mourning the lost of her only daughter.
As for the leaked photo of Whitney in her casket he says, their shocked anyone would take the photo and even dare published it but they do not blame the funeral home.
On what really happened with Bobby Brown on the day of Whitney’s funeral Gary says, Bobby was actually invited by the family and should have been there but not quite sure what happened to make him leave, whether his entourage was too large, he’s not sure.
As for what kind of brother-in-law he was Gary says he loves Bobby but wasn’t sure if he and Whitney were good for each other. He says he had tried to stay out of their marriage.
When asked if they have closure both Gary and Patricia say yes but wish their mother, Cissy, could have had that closure, to see her daughter, to hold her before she passed.
The program ends with Gary and Pat singing Whitney’s song “I Look to You” as their daughter plays the piano and Gary is moved to tears.
Whitney Houston’s official cause of death is still yet to be determined. The singer passed on February 11th at 48 years old.
(Photo: Oprah.com)
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