Posts tagged abuse

Oprah interviewed Whitney Houston today which marks the beginning of Oprah’s 24th season on air. The interview was very candid and heart felt. Whitney gave a very honest and open interview and the second part of the interview airs tomorrow with a appearance by Whitney’s 16 year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina and a performance.

Oprah X Whitney

On The Darkest Point with Bobby Brown

Oprah: What’s the worst thing he ever said to you that you can share?

Whitney: I just remember this moment. It was his birthday, and I gave him a party at a club in Atlanta, Buckhead. He drank a lot that night. He drank a lot. And for some reason, everything that I did I tried to do to make him happy—it would turn on me. It was weird. Today, I understand it because people that alcoholics love, they try to abuse.

So when we got back to the house—he’s going to hate that I say this—but he spit on me. And my daughter was coming down the stairs, and she saw it. That was pretty intense. Because I didn’t grow up with that, and I didn’t understand why that occurred. But he had such a hate in his eyes for me.

Because I loved him so much. He cursed me all the way home in front of his parents, and then he spit on me.

Oprah: How did you feel?

Whitney: I was horrified. He spit on me, in my face.

Oprah: Was that a turning point for you, or did you wake up the next morning and push that down or place that someplace in your psyche?

Whitney: I was very hurt. Very angry. And I knew somebody, somewhere, something was going to blow. I called a friend. I said, “Come get me now because it’s at a turning point now,” and I was almost two feet out the door at that point in time. I was ready to go.

And I asked [my friend] to come get me, and [Bobby] pushed me against the wall … I was on the phone and I went back in and I took the phone and I hit him over the head with it. He just fell out on the floor. It was just drama. My daughter came down the stairs. She’s, like, “Daddy?”

Oprah: Blood?

Whitney: Yeah. “Mom, what did you—,” [her daughter asked]. I said, “I told him not to do it.” I kept saying, “I told him not to do this. I told him not to do this.” It was just one of those moments. It was just hateful. Ugly.

On The Drug Abuse

Oprah: Tell me how bad did it get, the drugs?

Whitney: When you don’t speak and you live in the same home and you’re sitting right next to that person and you’re not saying a word for a week? You’re just sitting there? And you’re just watching TV? That’s bad. …

Oprah: You’re just watching TV and doing coke? Or are you smoking?

Whitney: We were lacing our marijuana with base. We weren’t on crack. We weren’t on no crack stuff. We weren’t buying $20 jumbos. We were paying money. We were buying kilos and ounces and ounces. We would have our stash.

Oprah: But you were freebasing cocaine.

Whitney: Basically. … We weren’t doing pipe smoking. We didn’t get that far.

On When Whitney Realized The Marriage Was Going Downhill

Oprah: You said you realized that the marriage was going to be over. Did you then make a decision that “I’m gonna get myself out”?

Whitney: Yeah. I remember saying to God one day, I said, “Give me one day of strength.” Because I was weak. I was so weak to [Bobby]. I was so weak to the love. I was, like: “This is love? What is this? What am I into?”

Oprah: Were you weak to him or were you weak to the drugs? Because the world’s perception is you were weak to the drugs.

Whitney: He was my drug. I didn’t do anything without him. I wasn’t getting high by myself. It was me and him together. You know, we were partners. And that’s what my high was. Him. He and I being together. And whatever we did, we did together. No matter what, we did it together.

Oprah: Because you were his wife.

Whitney: Yes. And he was my husband. And I’m gonna make this happen and we’re gonna make this work. And that’s the way it was.

…

Oprah: Were there days where you were drugged and didn’t know what was going on? Because remember there was a time, I can’t remember what year it was, that your sister-in-law sold pictures of your bathroom to the tabloids

Whitney: I wasn’t there then

Oprah: And she said that there were days that you would lock yourself in a room and you would stay there and you would not speak to people for days. Is any of that true?

Whitney: Sure.

Oprah: Would you just sit in your room and do drugs?

Whitney: Yeah. Talk on the phone. Watch TV. Listen to gospel. I would still read my Bible, amazingly enough. I would still read my Bible. I still had it in me. I knew God was there. I knew the light was there and I was just trying to get back to it. I just kept trying to get back to that spirituality.

On The Turning Point & When Her Mother Got Involved

Whitney: I got out of that program and it continued. The drugs didn’t stop. So one day my mother came to my house. It’s kind of funny. But now looking back at it, I see the love and the passion that my mother had for me, that she has for me.

She walks in with the sheriff and she says: “I have a court injunction here. You do it my way or we’re not going to do this at all. You’re going to go on TV, and you’re going to retire. And say you’re going to give this up because it’s not worth it.”

Oprah: Your mama came to your house with the sheriff?

Whitney: She said, “It’s not worth it.” She said: “If you move, Bobby, [the sheriff will] take you down. Don’t you make one move.” And he stood there like he was scared.

And she said: “Let’s go. Let’s do this. I’m not losing you to the world. I’m not losing you to Satan. I’m not doing this. I want my daughter back. I want you back. I want to see that glow in your eyes. That light in your eyes. I want to see the child I raised. And you weren’t raised like this. And I’m not having it. So you make a choice, and you make it here today because I have a court injunction that says you have to go.” …

Oprah: Was your mother saying you have to go to rehab, or was your mother saying you have to get out of this marriage?

Whitney: You have to go to rehab and make a decision with a clear mind.