Bobby Brown is finally breaking his silence about the death of his late ex-wife, Whitney Houston, in a two-part interview set to air tomorrow and Thursday on NBC’s Today Show. Brown sat down with Matt Lauer to discuss his often-troubled marriage to the iconic singer, for the first time since her death on February 11.
During his candid tell-all interview the “My Prerogative” singer talks about the last time that he saw Houston, how he found out about her death, and why he gets blamed for her drug use.
“I didn’t get high before I met Whitney,” Brown said. He discusses his relationship with his daughter Bobbi Kristina and addresses the recent rumors and headlines about her personal life.
Lauer also spoke exclusively to three of Brown’s children who were close to Houston, Landon Brown, Bobby Brown Jr., and La’Princia Brown, as well as Brown’s fiancé Alicia Etheridge.
The following are excerpts from the interview.
Matt Lauer: You had actually seen her about a week or so before she died. You were having dinner with your daughter, Bobbi Kristina. And Whitney came to the restaurant. So tell me how she appeared at that time. What was her demeanor? What was her emotional state?
Bobby Brown: She had this — this glow about her that was just, you know, incredible. You know, and I’m— I’m saying to myself, you know, “She must be— she must be doing’ really well,” because she looked really well.
Did you get the sense on that night, the week before she died, that she was happy in her life? That she was in a good place?
Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because — because of the way that she was, her demeanor, her— how she, you know, was joking around with, you know, Bobbi Kris and myself at the table. It was just, you know, she just looked like she was in a good place.
According to the coroner’s report, Bobby, there was cocaine in her system. There was white powder found in a variety of places throughout her hotel room. There were some other prescription drugs found, although not in excessive amounts.
Uh-huh.
But when you heard the word “cocaine,” that that was a likely contributor to her death, how did you respond?
I was hurt. I was hurt…because, you know, me being off of narcotics for the last seven years — I felt that she was, you know, I didn’t know she was struggling with it still. But at the same time, you know — listen, it’s a hard fight. It’s a hard fight to, you know, maintain sobriety that way.
You think it was this particular day of cocaine use that killed her, or was this that her body simply couldn’t take the wear and tear anymore?
From what I feel and you know, how I saw her, the last time I saw her, it had to be that particular day. You know, it had to be that one, because that’s all it takes… One hit, you know, and you know, it could definitely take your life away from you. And — unfortunately — that was it.
After Whitney passed away, Bobby, if I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times, and I know you heard it too. Fans, people who say they were close to Whitney, say her life went downhill when she met Bobby Brown. How do you respond to it? And how does it make you feel when you hear it?
It makes me feel terrible. But you know, I know differently. I think if anyone ever knew us, if anybody ever spent time around us instead of time lookin’ through the bubble— they would know how we felt about each other. They would know how happy we were together… And the reality show gave us a wake-up, because we saw each other in— we looked at the bubble and saw ourselves. We was able to see what other people were saying about us, you know? We was able to see that our drug use had affected our relationship, had affected the love that we felt for each other.
But why do you think you got the blame? I was reading some blogs after her death. One said, ‘Bobby Brown killed Whitney,’ not in the literal way, but in the figurative way. Others said, ‘Bobby Brown is responsible for getting her hooked on drugs.’ Everyone seems to point the finger at you.
No. No.
And they say Whitney was more of an innocent victim in this.
No, that’s not true. I didn’t get high before I met Whitney.
On narcotics?
On narcotics, no. No, I— I—I smoked weed, I drank the beer, but no, I wasn’t the one that got Whitney on drugs at all.
So this was a part of her life before you and she got together?
Way— way before. Yeah… It’s just— it’s just unexplainable— how one could, you know, [say that I] got her addicted to drugs. I’m not the reason she’s gone.
And it’s not revisionist history? It’s not a chance of after the fact, setting the record straight in Bobby Brown’s way?
No. I can — I can honestly say that — I love that woman with — with everything that I am… And I believe she loved me the same way. We wouldn’t have been able to make the most beautiful girl in the world — without love. And that’s the truth.
Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC