Whitney Houston passed away on 2/11/12 - Part 1

[Luzianne]

On NG tonight a friend of Bobby Brown said Whitney was never supposed to be on "Being Bobby Brown" That she just showed up on the set.(she basically crashed the set: my words.) He also confirmed BB didn't do cocaine until after he met WH. NG didn't believe him.

That's not true. Whitney didn't want to do that show and Bobby Brown tried to talk her into it and also enlisted his friends to talk her into it. HE wanted to do the show and she didn't because she didn't want their life on public display.

 

[Luzianne]

This is some scary stuff, shows that Clive Davis was really tired of his little star not making money hand over fist:

Whitney Houston's Vocal Coach Speaks to INSIDE EDITION

Catona last worked with Houston in 2010, when Houston was staging her big European comeback tour.

At the time, Catona didn't think Houston was ready but he says her mentor, Clive Davis rushed her back on stage.

"I got part of her voice back and all of a sudden she is on the road. I got three-quarters of her voice back and she does a record, but they never took it all the way," said Catona.

A spokesman for Davis said, he always had Whitney's best interest at heart.

more at link:

http://www.insideedition.com/news/7675/whitney-houstons-vocal-coach-speaks-to-inside-edition.aspx

I have read that Whitney was worth more to Clive Davis dead than alive. I also heard that Clive Davis changed all of Whitney's staff about a year ago, and that is when the body guard that didn't allow Whitney to take baths and who checked on her every 7 to 10 minutes when she was in the bathroom was replaced. Clive Davis also decided that the party would go on the night that Whitney died. I think that's very disrespectful. While Whitney's dead body is lying in her fourth floor room at the hotel, the party goes on as planned in the same hotel. I really hope there is nothing sinister about this, though, and that it was just an accidental death.

 

[Luzianne]

RBBM

As am I, as did I..."BUT for the Grace of God, there go I.", comes to mind...cunning, baffling and powerful is the dis-ease of addiction and too, too many are not as fortunate as you and I. Humility is a wondrous trait.

Like they were saying on Jane Velez Mitchell the other night - why are some people able to get sober and some have to die? Not everybody can free themselves from addiction. Unfortunately, Whitney was one of the ones who wasn't able to. I have nothing but compassion for her. It's obvious to see what she was like when not using as opposed to when she was. When using she became defensive and abrasive. When not using she was completely different. Underneath it all she had a deep faith in God and I am convinced that God knows and loves the true Whitney, the one not addicted, and she is with Him now.

 

[Luzianne]

Another thing about Bobby Brown. He did his concert Saturday night and then went to LA SUNDAY NIGHT to be with Bobbi Kristina. That was 24 hours at least after her mother's death that she was sitting in LA with maybe Whitney's staff and friends, but not FAMILY with her. I don't know, if it were my 18 year old child whose other parent died, I would drop everything and rush to be with them.

And now, as of yesterday I think, Bobby Brown is back doing concerts. I assume Bobbi Kristina is with Cissy Houston and other family so that is better than her being in LA without family, but still. If it were my child, I would be there.

 

[angelwngs]

I haven't clicked on every link and seen little of the TV coverage-- but, I'm intrigued by the position her body was found in the bathtub. Can anyone tell me if it was an oversized/extra long type bath? Because I know that it's pretty easy to slide down and sort of swim in a long tub. IOW, if she died, her body laying on her back, slumped then bobbed freely in the water, couldn't she end up face down?

Also, after listening to a few of her combative interviews, seeing the pictures of the night before, I have to admit I think she could have blown her own circuitry without being freshly inebriated. I'm certain she must have been feeling hungover (at best), and I imagine she could have been hypertensive (again, at best) in a natural state.

I see a perfect storm, intoxicated at the moment or not-- she was a high strung individual who'd abused her body for years, perhaps this string of parties were simply her last straw.

jmo

The pic posted of another room @ Beverly Hills Hilton showing a similar bathtub showed a tub that had pretty sharp edges for a hotel tub... keeping their own liability in mind....It looked to me as if it would be very easy to bump your head or injur a shin or other body part getting in or out of that type tub...

Shortly after her death, it was reported by TMZ that WH was found with her legs and feet out of the water but her head was under water... I immediately thought of myself finding an old boyfriend passed out nekkid in my bathtub after he broke into my home while I was at work. His feet and legs from the knees down were indeed out of the tub. His thighs, body and head were in the tub w/ his back resting against the 'wall side fo the tub', rather than end to end in the tub. Luckily there was no water in the tub when he stumbled into it, wrapping himself up with the torn down shower curtain...

Later, it was also apparently reported on several sites that she was found face down with her head underwater. Who knows...??? As in most cases...especially involving celebs, the stories change depending on who is doing the talking and who is reporting it.... Hopefully, the facts will be written out in the final autopsy report as to the position and condition the body was found. Maybe then it will make more sense to all of us.

 

[Basmat]

But IMO Whitney was no Dolly


IF never heard Dolly sing I Will Always Love You, then go to YouTube and search for it. She sings it in a beautiful gentle way. There is a clip from The Grand Ole Opry where she is singing it directly to Porter Wagner that is just beautiful.

Dolly wrote the song and IMO her rendition will always resonate most with me BECAUSE it was her heartfelt and, indeed, "bittersweet" memories of a lost relationship.

It was intended to be a true "love song" for a lost real life love. It was incorporated into the movie "The Bodyguard" as a plot line and IMHO lost too much in the translation. The song became a contrived vehicle to showcase vocal range but had no real emotion in it when WH sang it.

Just an observation on my part.

 

[Paladine]

By CHRIS CONNELLY, GLENN RUPPEL and ALICE GOMSTYN (@AliceGomstyn)
Feb. 17, 2012

Years after the peak of her success, Whitney Houston's unparalleled voice was "gone" and it took years of coaching sessions to get even part of it back, her one-time vocal coach revealed to "20/20."

"It appeared to be so damaged that when I first began working with her, I was not sure what I could do," Gary Catona said.

See the full story on "One Moment in Time: The Life of Whitney Houston," a two-hour "20/20" special, TONIGHT at 9 p.m. ET.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment...fight-win-back/story?id=15689692#.Tz6GWlFuqSp

 

[Basmat]

She squander her gift along with over 250 million dollar,When I heard on the news she was someone to look up and admire I was stunned. I am so mad our flags will fly at half mass for her funeral ,that is an honor bestowed to Hero's.Not to be mean but she and she alone chose her path.

Thank you for saying what I was to chicken poop to say myself. As someone (a nobody) who has battled alcoholism myself and am now a permanently recovering alcoholic, I just find it hard to make excuses for those who have EVERYTHING at their fingertips and just throw it away.

I won't judge her, but I also won't offer sympathy to her. JMO.

 

[SyraKelly]

Count down to the 15th photo at the link above w/WH sitting in back of car beside female in blue dress.

It looks as if the female beside her is searching for something in the handbag and as if WH is cleaning up the blood from her leg and about to apply a bandaid to it... Doesn't that look like it could be a bandaid in WH's hand in her lap???

Whatever she is doing her fine motor skills look pretty good here not nearly as 'ugly' and out of it as reported. Lots of the pictures are taken in motion...and anyone can have a poor picture taken with eyes half closed and sweaty even if they have consumed no hard drugs and are stone sober. Not that WH probably was stone sober...but I sincerely think that most of the photos being published of her in her last days are being exploited and colored with the most money making captions w/the intentions of showing her in the worst possible light rather than with any 'benefit of doubt'. For instance, the 16th photo, the one directly under this one... is suggested in a post here on WS's to look as if WH is in a seizure... or passed out or something... Take a look at her earrings...in that photo. They are dangle earrings and are moving outward away from her body as this photo appears to have captured WH in a freeze frame shot as she was getting into the car and with her body still in motion... Considering this...this photo doesn't look nearly as scary....IMHO. Was WH in trouble? Obviously. Is the media using every photo within their power to "create" a story that will make $$$ for them.... You know it! So I think we need to look more carefully at those photos and see if there aren't some obvious explainations...for what is happening in them, rather than what some see on the surface, at a glance. None of us look good 100% of the time... I guess we can all be thankful that unless you're a star who dies the night before the Grammy's most ALL of our own Bad photos are tossed into the trash... rather than exploited to look like something that they really aren't at all....

I was the one who said she looked like she was having a seizure TO ME-And you are speculating just as much as us when you are thinking she is putting on a band-aid..No-I don't know whats going on in that photo-but its a scary photo TO ME!!! I meant no disrespect to her when I said that!!
I agree-flags should not be flown half staff for her today!!!

 

[Luzianne]

I was the one who said she looked like she was having a seizure TO ME-And you are speculating just as much as us when you are thinking she is putting on a band-aid..No-I don't know whats going on in that photo-but its a scary photo TO ME!!! I meant no disrespect to her when I said that!!
I agree-flags should not be flown half staff for her today!!!

To me it just looked like she'd had too much to drink and was falling asleep.

 

[21merc7]

http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/17/whitney-houston-funeral-invitation-photo/

 

[21merc7]

I'm not sure if this article is just spin to clear Clive or not, but here it is: *Note most articles since her death seem to be spin to me*

“Bobbi Kristina, Clive Davis, and members of Whitney’s closest advisers were urging her to go back to rehab because people close to her saw her downward spiral into drugs and alcohol,” an insider tells RadarOnline.com exclusively. “It was extremely hard for Clive in particular to see Whitney under the influence again. He was absolutely powerless to stop her. Clive and Whitney had a very close relationship, but her addiction to drugs and alcohol did a lot of damage to that.

more at link (and hopefully you get to the diva photo of Richard Simmons on the side like I did, lol!):

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/02/whitney-houston-rehab-clive-davis-offered-pay

 

[21merc7]

And one on her going "buck wild":

Whitney got buck-wild," the onlooker revealed. "She drank cognac and champagne and seemed completely out of it from the moment she arrived until the moment she left, at 2:30 a.m. PST. "

Weeks later, she continued the party at the Beverly Wilshire, a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills.

PHOTOS: Whitney Houston’s Mendham home

"Whitney was in a lounge chair drinking pina coladas all afternoon," another eyewitness told Star.

"Once in a while, she would get on her cell phone and start screaming at someone. She seemed almost manic at moments and practically unconscious the next."

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/02/whitney-houston-final-months-booze-pills-cocaine

And one about an investigation into whole sold the photos of WH. (Really? Shouldn't it be about whatever was making her and her daughter pass out in tubs?)

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/02/whitney-houston-photos-sold-out-investigation

 

[SwampMama]

I was the one who said she looked like she was having a seizure TO ME-And you are speculating just as much as us when you are thinking she is putting on a band-aid..No-I don't know whats going on in that photo-but its a scary photo TO ME!!! I meant no disrespect to her when I said that!!
I agree-flags should not be flown half staff for her today!!!

Can someone please post that link again?? I'm on a new computer and the new touchpad is driving me nuts and having to go back thru pages and scroll would be a huge pain and would probably get me completely aggravated even more at this new computer. Pretty please. Your kindness in posting the link will prevent senseless violence against an equally senseless laptop.

 

[kato]

THIS IS JUST MY OPINION & I AM NOT IMPLYING THAT HE HAD ANYTHING TO TO WITH WHITNEY'S DEATH.

I believe that 2 people were in her room. One being Ray J. He probably ordered the hamburger & fries with the beer. Whitney probably ordered the turkey sandwich with the champagne & maybe decided to take it in the bathroom & relax in the tub while she ate. I wouldn't eat while soaking but that's just me.

Also, they say Ray J was not in town on Thursday that he was in San Diego & there are no pictures to prove he was with Whiney at the club. There is a picture but I can't remember where I saw it. He was hanging back almost like he didn't want to be seen while Whitney was being helped out of the club.

 

[Nova]

I was just making the point that postmortem her daughter would not receive as much as MJ's children, that was part of the previous question in the thread. We don't know what her contracts state. Everything here is all speculation as we know nothing and celeb news is clearly very contradictory. Nothing in a celeb thread is to be taken as fact as there are none, unless it is a video of the person in question doing said issue, or copies of signed documents. Pure speculation.

I am aware of interpretive art and the many arenas it comes into play. That is not in question, nor the merit of her worth, which is subjective, as with any form of art.

21, in addition to stars sometimes taking a share of the author's royalties, there is such a thing as a performer's royalties, as well. A friend of mine who provided the voice for a Disney movie gets a small royalty on every CD sold of the soundtrack. Her agent had to fight to get it, since she wasn't well known when she signed her contract, but she wasn't the first performer to get such a deal.

I'm sure your basic point that WH wasn't making as much as Michael Jackson is correct. Jackson presumably owned his publishing rights as well as earning author's royalties.

But Miss Houston was reportedly supporting many members of her family (not to mention her ex-husband), so she must have made quite a bit through her short lifetime.

 

[Paladine]

Can someone please post that link again?? I'm on a new computer and the new touchpad is driving me nuts and having to go back thru pages and scroll would be a huge pain and would probably get me completely aggravated even more at this new computer. Pretty please. Your kindness in posting the link will prevent senseless violence against an equally senseless laptop.

I am not sure if this is the pic to which our friend had referred but it may be...at this link...

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/02/whitney-houston-final-months-booze-pills-cocaine

 

[Nova]

How is Dolly making money off someone's death? It's Dolly's song. Always was. Whitney made money off Dolly. If there is no money left then thats Whitneys fault.

Dolly Parton is known to be one of the most generous "celebrities" there is. I don't know how many jobs Dollywood provides to the poor community its located in, but it has to be thousands. I admire Dolly for building it. She didn't just donate a large some of money to some charity, she provided jobs for generations of families.

Miss Parton makes a few cents off every recording of "And I Will Always Love You" because she wrote it. If WH's record sales jump because of her death, Parton makes more money; as do the authors of all of the songs WH recorded. (ETA Parton also makes a little every time the song is played on the radio. Probably less than a penny, but if you add up all the times the song is played all over the country, the broadcast royalty can be significant.)

Technically, that is profiting from someone's death, but I don't think that's what we usually mean when we use that phrase. Surely nobody is accusing Parton of doing anything wrong.

 

[Nova]

I couldn't agree with you more. Dolly wrote that song for Porter Wagner when she left his show. I'm a fan of Dolly because she is so honest. She has always joked about how much money she's made off Whitneys recording of HER song. She's always been very complimentary towards Whitney. Maybe she is contributing to Whitney's family, because thats how Dolly is, she has a huge heart.
But IMO Whitney was no Dolly


IF never heard Dolly sing I Will Always Love You, then go to YouTube and search for it. She sings it in a beautiful gentle way. There is a clip from The Grand Ole Opry where she is singing it directly to Porter Wagner that is just beautiful.

They are both great singers and each made a lot of money with the other when Houston sang Parton's song. I'm not sure why or how this became a contest.

 

[gngr~snap]

THIS IS JUST MY OPINION & I AM NOT IMPLYING THAT HE HAD ANYTHING TO TO WITH WHITNEY'S DEATH.

I believe that 2 people were in her room. One being Ray J. He probably ordered the hamburger & fries with the beer. Whitney probably ordered the turkey sandwich with the champagne & maybe decided to take it in the bathroom & relax in the tub while she ate. I wouldn't eat while soaking but that's just me.

Also, they say Ray J was not in town on Thursday that he was in San Diego & there are no pictures to prove he was with Whiney at the club. There is a picture but I can't remember where I saw it. He was hanging back almost like he didn't want to be seen while Whitney was being helped out of the club.

IMO~ Ray J was staying with WHitney the entire time

Ray J leaving club Tru.

Ray J with Clive Davis prior to WH death.

Ray J rushed to see Whitney Houston after hearing the news of her death but was turned away by law officials TMZ has learned.