Whitney Houston’s Brother Michael Says He Introduced Singer to Drugs (VIDEO)
Nearing the one year anniversary of the Whitney Houston's death, Cissy Houston and her son Michael Houston sat down with Oprah Winfrey for “Next Chapter,” in which they divulged even more details about the singer’s demise.
On the Jan. 28 episode, Whitney’s brother Michael confessed that he was the person who first introduced the late singer to drugs. Up until this point, Whitney’s ex-husband Bobby Brown was widely accused of being the source and starting point for her drug habit. Michael opened up to Oprah as a tearful Cissy looked on.
“It’s painful. I feel responsible for what I let go so far," he said. "We would always be together most of the time and her following behind me. I told her to drive. We played together. Everything that you do together growing up and then drugs, you do that together to. It just got out of hand.”
“Did you introduce her to drugs?” Winfrey inquired.
“I would say yes,” Michael answered. “We did everything together.”
Winfrey asked if Whitney tried freebasing cocaine or crack with Michael for the first time.
He replied, “I think so. You have to understand at the time it was the 80’s and it was acceptable… It was available in the entertainment industry and it wasn’t a bad word like it is now.”
Cissy, 79, wrote a memoir about her daughter’s life called “Remembering Whitney.” On the show, Cissy recounted the moment she learned that Whitney had died in the Beverly Hills hotel room the day before the 2012 Grammys.
“My son called me and he was screaming, 'Mom, Mommy.' Then, oh God. I said, ‘What is wrong, what’s wrong?’ He just said, ‘Nippy. Nippy.’ I said, ‘What’s wrong with Nippy?’… I was getting annoyed because he wasn’t telling me anything. He said, ‘Mommy.’ I said, ‘Is she dead?’ And he said, ‘Yeah Mommy, she’s dead.' ”
Whitney died on Feb. 11, 2012, at the age of 48. The singer was expected to make her big comeback and was set to appear at Clive Davis’ annual Pre-Grammy gala. Her body was discovered face down in a bath tub and she died of accidental drowning with cocaine in her system.
