Representatives of Whitney Houston’s estate have denied claims Oprah Winfrey recently made about the iconic singer’s behaviour at a 2009 interview.
Speaking at a Cannes Lions event earlier this week, the daytime TV icon recalled how the I Will Always Love You star “fell off the stage” during a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Winfrey alleged that Houston had relapsed on drugs at the time, and she “begged” the audience not to share details of what had happened with the media.
But in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday, executors of Houston’s estate confirmed the Greatest Love of All hitmaker “absolutely fell off stage”, though denied it was because she was “high”.
“From the 2009 interview on the Oprah Winfrey show, Whitney absolutely fell off stage, but it was during a sound check, and it was due to the darkness of the area and her unfamiliarity with the stage. She was absolutely not high,” they wrote. “This story was picked up by several media outlets. Like many people, she faced personal battles, but it is inaccurate and unfair to attach that struggle to every performance or every chapter of her life.”
The spokesperson went on to insist that Houston fulfilled her “professional” duties that day.
“What the studio audience witnessed on stage was the result of discipline, talent, and commitment, not the assumptions others project,” they continued. “Whitney’s humanity included triumphs and struggles, but on that day, she showed up as the professional and gifted artist she always worked to be. We owe her the dignity of telling the truth, not repeating myths.”
Representatives for Winfrey, 72, have not yet responded to the comments.
Houston died at the age of 48 in 2012. The coroner’s office reported that her death was caused by drowning and the effects of heart disease and cocaine use.
