As we reported last night, Whitney Houston passed away in Beverly Hills on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton. She was 48 years old. She passed away during Grammy Weekend – where musicians, pop stars, rap and hip-hop stars and everyone and anyone involved in the music industry descends on LA for pre-Grammy parties and the actual Grammys, which are still scheduled for tonight. Ever since Whitney’s rep confirmed Whitney’s death, there has been a rush of information. Here are some bullet points:

*Whitney was discovered by a member of her entourage, likely a bodyguard. The person called hotel security, who in turn called 911. Whitney was unresponsive (likely already dead) when the EMTs arrived. TMZ’s sources claim that the night before her death (Friday), Whitney “partied heavily” at the hotel, “drinking and chatting loudly with friends in the bar.” Both Whitney’s mother (Cissy) and her cousin (Dionne Warwick) spoke to Whitney just hours before her death, and they both say she sounded fine.

*Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina “got into an angry shouting match with police officers outside the hotel room where her mother was found dead.” Hours after Whitney’s death, Bobbie Kristina tried to see her mother’s body, but she was told no one was allowed in. Dionne Warwick was also sent away.

*The LAPD’s initial assessment is that there is no foul play. TMZ’s sources (probably inside the LAPD) claim that “no illegal drugs have been found in the hotel room where Whitney Houston died” but they’ve found prescription drugs. Allegedly, Whitney was found in the bathtub, and EMTs removed her from the tub, and there are suspicions Whitney might have passed out and drowned. There’s also a theory that she simply overdosed. Allegedly, no alcohol was found in the room either.

*TMZ says Whitney was taking Xanax. Xanax mixed with alcohol = not good. But! Radar says the LAPD found “a plethora of sedatives including Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax, and a sleeping medication that was found in her hotel room.” The autopsy will take place today or tomorrow, and the assumption (by Radar’s sources) is that Whitney accidentally overdosed.

*Whitney’s last film, Sparkle, is still scheduled to be released later this year. Sparkle is a remake of a 1976 film about young musicians struggling with addiction. Whitney had bought the rights to the story a decade ago, she executive produced the remake, and she costars as the mother of Jordin Sparks’ character. The last time Whitney was in a film was in 1996, in The Preacher’s Wife.

*Listen to the isolated vocals of Whitney singing “How Will I Know” here.

*Tony Bennett is using Whitney’s death to campaign for the legalization of drugs. His argument is lacking.

*Whitney’s last interview was with Access Hollywood? You can see it here.

*Read some statements from celebrities who loved Whitney here and here.

*Grammy producers are scrambling to add last-minute tributes to Whitney during tonight’s broadcast. Jennifer Hudson is coming on to perform “a respectful musical tribute” to Whitney. Allegedly, Chaka Khan might join her. My guess is that some of Lady Gaga’s performance time is being cut to make room for Whitney’s tribute.

*Bobby Brown cried during a concert last night.

RIP Whitney, you will be deeply missed.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Whitney Houston’s rep has just confirmed the sad news – Whitney has passed away at the age of 48. The cause of death is unknown. Whitney had been famous for going on three decades – her powerful, beautiful voice was nurtured in gospel choirs and then in 1980s, she went pop and R&B. Throughout her music career, she won six Grammys and 22 American Music Awards. Her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” is one of the most popular songs of all time.

Whitney Houston has died. She was 48.

The singing superstar’s publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that Houston died, but did not reveal the cause of death.

Earlier this week, the singer, a six-time Grammy winner, was spotted having a night out on the town in L.A. at “Kelly Price & Friends Unplugged: For The Love Of R&B Grammy Party” at Tru Hollywood.

[From People Magazine]

Unfortunately, Whitney’s death is likely drug-related. I’m not saying that to be nasty – Whitney had openly struggled with addiction for many, many years. Her tell-all interview with Oprah several years ago was particularly eye-opening for the information she gave about the length of her addiction issues, and the extent. On Friday, many sites ran with photos of Whitney leaving a club in LA, looking bloody, disheveled and wasted – you can see those photos here.

Whitney is survived by her only child, daughter Bobbi Christina, who turns 19 years old next month. It’s also believed that Whitney was currently dating Ray J, for what it’s worth. Our thoughts and prayers to Whitney’s family, friends and loved ones.

UPDATE: Radar claims that Whitney died at the Beverly Hilton. She was pronounced dead at 3:55 PM PST. Bobby Brown is in Memphis and is said to be “struggling and devastated.” Bobbi Kristina is in Los Angeles reportedly. Also, some sources are claiming that Ray J found Whitney’s body, but Ray J’s rep says he wasn’t there.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Leslie Carter is the woman in the middle

We haven’t covered this story yet because it’s sad. Just thinking about it is getting me teary-eyed, particularly these latest details. Leslie Carter, 25, died at home with her parents last week from a reported overdose of prescription drugs to treat mental illness. Leslie is a member of the semi-famous Carter family that was featured in the “House of Carters” reality show on E! in 2006. She was married and leaves behind a 10 month-old daughter. TMZ reported that prior to her death Leslie was living with her family in upstate New York in an attempt to quit using medication she had become dependent on. Her family had left her alone for just an hour and when they returned she was unresponsive.

One of Leslie’s brothers, singer Nick Carter, 32, didn’t make it to her funeral over the weekend. He told TMZ that his family didn’t let him know when or where it was, and plus he had a concert to give. Nick also gave a statement to E! acknowledging the “complicated dynamic” in his family:

The show must go on? Former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter has missed his own sister’s funeral. The singer gave a concert in Philadelphia and hosted a party at an Atlantic City resort on Saturday night, the same evening that funeral proceedings were held for little sister Leslie Carter.

“I wanted to be at my sister’s funeral, but my family has always had a complicated dynamic. I love my family. I want to thank everyone for all of their compassion and support that I have received during this most difficult time. There are so many emotions for me surrounding the loss of my sister. I am trying to stay healthy, positive and focused,” Nick, 32, said in a statement to The Insider.

Separately, Carter told website TMZ that he had wanted to attend the funeral in New York (which was attended by brother Aaron), but that his family had not disclosed the details.

Leslie died suddenly on February 1 from a reported overdose of prescription drugs meant to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Stepmother Ginger Carter told the police that the 25-year-old Leslie had a “long history of mental illness” and that she had appeared depressed the morning that she died.

“Our family is grieving right now and it’s a private matter,” a spokeswoman for the family had said in a statement after news broke. “We are deeply saddened for the loss of our beloved sister, daughter, and granddaughter, Leslie Carter. We request the utmost privacy during this time.”

The troubled Leslie appeared on the family’s reality show, “House of Carter,” in 2006 and aspired to be a singer like her famous older brothers.

[From Huffington Post]

At Nick’s concert he did dedicate a song to Leslie, and some audience members held up pink paper hearts for her. How sad that their family doesn’t get along well enough for Nick to go to his own sisters funeral, or is that a cop out because he was otherwise busy? Couldn’t he just have flown there, and would his family have turned him away at this time? This is tragic story, both in terms of a young woman dying and her family not pulling together after her death. I hope that Nick can reunite with his family somehow. I know in some families there’s just too much to overcome and that even a tragedy can’t make up for the past. With their history there’s probably more than one feud going on.

Header image is from 2006. Other images from 2010 and 2011. Credit: WENN.com

As far as ladies singing the blues, I was always partial to Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. But! I did have an Etta James album, and I wore it out. Her voice was like butter, rich and smooth. And now that voice is gone – Etta James has passed away at the age of 73. People Magazine has more details about Etta’s life and death:

Etta James, the powerful blues voice behind the chart-topping 1961 evergreen “At Last,” has died after a lengthy struggle with leukemia. She was 73.

Her longtime friend and manager, Lupe De Leon, first confirmed the news to CNN. “This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world,” De Leon said. “She was a true original who could sing it all – her music defied category. I worked with Etta for over 30 years. She was my friend and I will miss her always.”

Because of her health concerns, James had curtailed her concerts in January 2010 to enter the hospital with a blood infection, among other ailments, including Alzheimer’s disease. In May 2011, James was again admitted to a hospital in Riverside, Calif., with a urinary tract infection and the blood infection sepsis, her son Sametto James told Reuters at the time.

The winner of four Grammys and a 1993 inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, James was portrayed in the 2008 movie Cadillac Records by Beyoncé Knowles. Christina Aguilera also cited James as a major influence.

“There’s a lot going on in Etta James’s voice,” Bonnie Raitt once told Rolling Stone, which ranked James 22nd on its list of the 100 Best Singers of All Time. “A lot of pain, a lot of life but, most of all, a lot of strength. She can be so raucous and down one song, and then break your heart with her subtlety and finesse the next. As raw as Etta is, there’s a great intelligence and wisdom in her singing.”

Born Jamesetta Hawkins
The Los Angeles-born James began singing in church and was discovered in 1954 by bluesman Johnny Otis, who amended her name from Jamesetta Hawkins. Over the next decade she built up a catalog of hits – “Roll with Me Henry,” “Call My Name” and “I’d Rather Go Blind” – along with an addiction to heroin. “It took over my life,” the 5’3″ singer told PEOPLE in 2006, shortly after she had successfully shed 235 of her 400 lbs. through gastric-bypass surgery. “You get up every day and look to score.”

Her drug problems landed husband Artis Mills (whom she married in 1969) behind bars from 1972 to 1982, when he took the fall for the couple’s arrest on heroin-possession charges. James made several trips to rehab, including a 17-month stint in the mid-’70s, without success. Finally, during a 1988 stay in the Betty Ford Clinic, just before her 50th birthday, this time for a codeine addiction, “I took back my life,” says James, who remained clean after that.

Among the Greats
Mills, who has been putting up a legal fight to wrest control of James’s reported $1 million estate from her sons Donto and Sametto James, survives the singing legend, as do her sons.

“Etta always comes through with feeling,” music biographer Peter Guralnick told PEOPLE in 2006. “She coexists with Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday.”

[From People]

Etta was last in the news in 2009, just a few weeks after Barack Obama’s inauguration. Beyonce had covered “At Last” one of Etta’s standards, and Etta was not pleased about that, and she said so publicly. Thoughts and prayers to her family, and I hope Etta is in a better place now.

Here’s Etta doing “At Last”

“I’d Rather Go Blind”

And “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I’ve actually watched the first episode of this second season of “Next Great Baker” as it was free on iTunes. Just last night I bought the second episode because it was pretty interesting and I wanted to see what happened to everyone. The show is a baking competition judged by “Cake Boss” head Buddy Valastro, who leads a panel of 13 bakers on different timed challenges. It’s similar to other ongoing competition reality shows in that a contestant is eliminated every week. (I prefer the one-off cooking competition shows on The Food Network like “Chopped” and “Cupcake Wars”.) One of the contestants this season, an Iraq war veteran named Wesley Durden, committed suicide in October after filming was completed. Instead of notifying the public when the guy died (which was well before the season started airing at the end of November) TLC decided to air all his episodes first and then put up a little “in memoriam” note after the guy was eliminated from the show! I find that shocking and tasteless. I’ve only seen the one episode, but Durden seemed like a stand up guy and I know he had fans. Here’s more:

Sergeant Wesley Durden, 28, a contestant on TLC’s baking competition “Next Great Baker,” committed suicide after production wrapped in October, according to the Jacksonville Daily News. However, TLC did not mention Durden’s death until after his elimination from “Next Great Baker” on Monday night’s episode.

The network delivered the news in a memorial note after the episode. TLC then released this statement: “TLC extends its deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Sgt. Wesley Durden, who died Oct. 24. He will be warmly remembered by the cast and crew of Next Great Baker.”

Durden was a Iraq War veteran who had been deployed to Iraq twice. According to the Jacksonville Daily News, Durden was a cook with the 82nd Airborne. He is survived by his wife, his seven-year-old son and his two-year-old daughter.

[From Huffington Post]

I understand why they didn’t edit this guy out of the show after he died like they tried to do with “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” following Russell Armstrong’s suicide. It would have been impossible to cut Durden’s scenes and maintain continuity. There are group baking challenges and he figured prominently in the show. Producers should at least have told the audience prior to the season airing. They could have better honored his memory that way. And/or they could have aired a brief segment in which some of the contestants got together and discussed what Durden meant to them. It just seems so callous to air all those shows and then put up a little note about his death afterwards, like a footnote. It’s like “Oh, by the way, this guy is dead now.” As for Durden’s suicide, I don’t blame the network or the show at all. Who knows what that poor guy was going through. They could have handled the announcement so much better though. I found RHOBH’s response to Armstrong’s death superficial, but at least they tried to talk about it. “Next Great Baker” didn’t even bother.

Here’s a video of Durden’s elimination. He seems so upbeat and positive about the experience. It’s so sad. He was a veteran and a father and it’s just a shame.
(This may only play for US visitors. Sorry about that!)

And here’s his cast interview.

This is for you bitches who used to beg me to write about vintage Hollywood scandals. In 1981, Natalie Wood’s body was found floating in the ocean a mile from Splendor, the boat she shared with her husband, Robert Wagner. They had been anchored just off of Catalina Island, and at the time, the story was that Natalie was either buzzed or completely drunk, and she had slipped and fallen off of the boat. The idea of Natalie’s accidental drowning was made worse by the fact that she had a well-documented fear of water – and I don’t think she could swim, either. On the boat with Natalie that night: the captain of the boat, Natalie’s husband Robert Wagner and Natalie’s then-current costar, Christopher Walken. There was controversy, gossip and whispers about Natalie’s death at the time, but it was ruled as an accident… until now. The LA County Sheriff’s Office has just reopened the case because they say they have new evidence:

What happened to Natalie Wood?

That is the question the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office hopes to answer regarding the Nov. 29, 1981, death of the adored movie star, it was announced late Thursday.

On Friday morning’s Today show, the captain of the boat Wood fled the night of her drowning alleged that her husband, Robert Wagner, was responsible for her death.

“I made mistakes by not telling the honest truth in a police report,” Dennis Davern also said on the NBC program.

Saying they had new information about Wood’s death – some of it apparently form Davern – sheriff’s officials have decided to reopen the investigation, according to Deputy Benjamin Grubb.

Wood, a child actress (1947′s Miracle on 34th Street) who went on to A-list status after 1955′s Rebel Without a Cause, 1961′s West Side Story and 1963′s Love With the Proper Stranger, was 43 when she mysteriously drowned while boating off Southern California’s Catalina Island.

When found, Wood’s body was floating about a mile away from the yacht carrying her husband and the actor Christopher Walken, Wood’s costar in the movie Brainstorm, which she was shooting at the time. The autopsy called the death an accident, though the tragedy has long been shrouded in gossip and speculation.

A spokesman for Wagner, 81, commenting on news that the case is being reopened, said in a statement, “Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that homicide detectives wish to speak to Davern, the captain of the yacht, which was named Splendour (Wood starred in 1961′s Splendor in the Grass), after comments he made recounting Wood’s death on its 30th anniversary.

Without elaborating, Sheriff Lee Baca told the newspaper that what Davern said was “worthy of exploring.” Davern co-authored a book published last year, Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour, and said there were arguments aboard the yacht the night of the drowning.

Boat Captain Grilled
Grilled by NBC’s David Gregory on Friday’s Today show, Davern said in response to several direct questions that he thought Wagner was responsible for Wood’s death, and that he and Wagner did not do all they should have the night she died. Davern also said that Wagner told him (Davern) not to take any steps to locate Wood once she left the boat, and that he and Wagner later agreed on what they would tell police.

“Any message you would want to tell Robert Wagner this morning?” Gregory asked Davern. “No,” he replied.

“I just want the truth to come out, the real story,” Natalie’s younger sister, Lana Wood, told CNN last year. “My sister was not a swimmer and did not know how to swim, and she would never go to another boat or to shore dressed in a nightgown and socks.”

A news conference on the matter has been scheduled by the Sheriff’s Department for Friday at 11 a.m. West Coast time.

[From People]

In September, 2009, The Enquirer excerpted the boat captain’s (Dennis Davern’s) book. According to Davern’s account of the evening, Wagner and Wood were fighting ABOUT Christopher Walken. Wagner believed Walken wanted to sleep with Natalie, and that Natalie was encouraging Walken. Davern claims the fight continued for hours, fueled by alcohol, and that the screaming fight turned physical. Davern identified Natalie’s body, and he claims that he saw bruises on her arms and legs that were from Wagner’s abuse, not her fall. He also claims that Wagner was with Natalie when she fell into the water, and Wagner encouraged the cover-up.

So, is it possible that Robert Wagner has gotten away with murder all this time? I don’t know. My mom always thought Wagner was fishy, though.

Archival photos of Wood, additional pics by WENN.

In between defending her daughter’s failed sham of a marriage and claiming we don’t real know her family, Kris Kardashian Jenner has been promoting her new memoir, a large portion of which is dedicated to her friendship with Nicole Brown Simpson. During her media tour and in her book, Kris claimed that Nicole reached out to her the day before she was murdered, but that she was too busy to see her. In Kris’ mind, she somehow could have “saved” Nicole if she had only been there for her. It was ridiculous, self-centered and cruel to bring all that up to promote a book, but that’s Kris Jenner for you. She’s responsible for foisting her family on the world and she’s shameless. Well Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister, Denise Brown, went on the record with the Enquirer to denounce Kris and call her both pathetic and a liar. Apparently Kris claims in her book that Denise called her after the murder and asked her about the safe deposit box where Nicole kept photos and other evidence of her abuse. Denise denies ever doing that and says that the fact that Kris is bringing up her sister’s murder is hard for their family to take. Denise also calls out Kris for profiting off her sister’s death.

Kris Jenner is being blasted for writing about the death of Nicole Brown Simpson by the murdered woman’s sister Denise Brown, who says Kris is dredging up the painful past for profit.

What’s worse, Denise says Kris’ version of events – as detailed in the newly released “Kris Jenner…and All Things Kardashian” – is not even accurate!

“Kris Jenner IS pathetic,” Denise, 54, told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview.

In the book, Kris writes that the day after Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were murdered in June 1994, Denise called her and asked about some photos Nicole kept hidden in a secret safety deposit box.

“Nicole had been beaten up by O.J., and she had been keeping this physical proof in the form of photographs and, it would turn out, other evidence, in which she had documented seven years of abuse,” Kris divulged in the book. “Nicole really wanted someone close to her to know what was going on, so that somebody – namely me – could be a witness.”

But Denise strongly denies calling Kris, 56, to ask about the photos during those heartbreaking days.

“I had just found out my sister was murdered,” Denise recalled. “The last thing on my mind was whether or not Nicole showed anyone any pictures she had in a safety deposit box.

“In fact, I didn’t even know my sister HAD a safety deposit box with pictures of her abuse until the beginning of O.J.’s trial – months after she was murdered…

““I think most people will question her intentions of writing about my sister’s murder,” Denise fumed. “I am really disappointed in Kris. For the past two-and-a-half years, my family has had some relative peace regarding all of this stuff. Now that Kris has brought it up again, she’s split open the healing wounds.

“For her to write about it is like reliving it all over again. My poor mother is really taking it hard.”

But for the Kardashian clan – who reportedly raked in $65 million last year – it’s all about money, say sources.

“Haven’t they made enough?” Denise added. “Nicole has been dead for 17 years. Please, Kris, don’t profit off of my sister’s horrible death.”

[From The National Enquirer, print and online editions]

I’m glad someone thought to ask the Brown family what they thought of Kris Jenner’s ridiculous claims. The woman is lying through her teeth, and her ex husband was one of O.J.’s high paid defense lawyers. She writes that she never thought O.J. was innocent and that was suspicious of his actions following the murder. So why didn’t she confront her ex husband about it? I’m sure she made up a bunch of excuses and lies about that too.

Kris also revealed that she cheated on her then-husband, Robert Kardashian, with a “producer named Ryan” when she was 30. (Not this Ryan, he would have been 11 at the time.) That was in 1985, and Kris filed for divorce from Robert in 1990. She wrote that “I don’t know why I was having a mid-life crisis at 30, but I was. His name was Ryan, and he was a producer. We had wild sex everywhere, all the time.” TMI from Kris, but that’s what she’s known for. That and bending the truth to promote herself and make money.

These photos of Denise Brown are from 2007. Kris is shown this year making an ass of herself as usual. Credit: WENN.com

Rapper, musician and actor Heavy D – also known as Dwight Arrington Myers – has passed away at the age of 44. His cause of death is unknown. According to TMZ’s breaking reporting, someone at his Beverly Hills home called 911 this morning, and when medics arrived, Heavy D was conscious and alert. He was taken to the hospital and he was pronounced dead with an hour. He was Jamaican by birth, but he had been living in California for years.

L.A. Coroner Chief Craig Harvey confirmed to People Magazine: “I can confirm that he died today…He was transported from a residence in Beverly Hills and was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead in the emergency room. The cause of death is yet to be determined; we’re investigating it now. We do know that he last saw his doctor two weeks ago.” Sources say that the doctors don’t suspect foul play.

Many heard the news first when Grandmaster Flash tweeted, “I was just told Heavy D passed away.” Heavy D was still performing as a rapper – he had just worked the Michael Jackson tribute concert in Wales a few weeks ago - and as an actor… he appears in Tower Heist, which just came out this past weekend. You can see his IMDB page here. Our thoughts and prayers to his family. Poor guy.

Here’s the song that was one of his biggest hits in the 1990s, “Now That We Found Love”… I’ve always perfered “Nuttin’ But Love” so I’m including that too.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

It makes me sad to report on Amy Winehouse at all. She passed away this July and initial reports said that she didn’t have any drugs in her system at the time. I thought that the case was closed and that we might never know why and how Amy died. Her family said she had recently given up drugs and drinking cold turkey, and they speculated that she may have died from alcohol withdrawal. Sadly it looks like she died from alcohol poisoning. She had five times the legal limit in her system, according to the coroner.

Amy Winehouse’s July 23 death was the “unintended consequence” of drinking too much alcohol, British coroner Suzanne Greenaway announced Wednesday.

Ruling that it was “death by misadventure,” the coroner stated that Winehouse, 27, was more than five times over the legal limit, according to the inquest, and two large bottles and one small bottle of vodka were found in the bedroom of her London home.

Winehouse was an “intelligent, determined young woman who, at times, was able to successful abstain from alcohol,” the coroner said while announcing the cause of death as “alcohol toxicity.”

Winehouse’s parents, Mitch and Janis, were in the court to hear the verdict. At the end, Mitch, a taxi driver and singer, embraced his daughter’s doctor, Christina Romete.

Earlier, the physician had told the court that she last saw Winehouse on the evening before her death. The singer, who had successfully battled drugs problems, had started drinking again after a period of abstinence, Dr. Romete said.

Romete said Winehouse had been “tipsy” but “calm” and coherent and “able to hold a conversation” during the visit. “She didn’t want to die, she was looking forward to the future,” the doctor added.

Winehouse’s family had suggested that stopping drinking might have caused Winehouse’s sudden death. It earlier has been determined that no illegal drugs had been found in her system.

After learning of the cause of death, Winehouse’s family issued a statement, saying, “It is some relief to finally find out what happened to Amy. We understand there was alcohol in her system when she passed away; it is likely a build up of alcohol in her system over a number of days. The court heard that Amy was battling hard to conquer her problems with alcohol and it is a source of great pain to us that she could not win in time.”

[From People]

It bothers me that the news about the death has been released over several months. I understand that these tests take time and that it must take time to write up a report and schedule a court date to make the announcement. How hard must it be for the family, though, to finally hear the cause of death after three months? That’s just when they’re probably coming to terms with everything, and now this brings it all up again. It seemed like we already heard how she died. As the family said in their statement though, at least they know now. RIP Amy.

If you haven’t read this interview with Amy’s last boyfriend yet, you might want to see it. He says some lovely and heartbreaking things about her. Particularly “we were halfway through a conversation in our life together and then, suddenly, she disappeared.”

Taylor Armstrong said on a television interview (video here) that if it wasn’t for the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” her husband might have killed her. Taylor’s husband Russell committed suicide in mid August, dying deep in debt after multiple shady business dealings. In an interview on KTLA, Taylor claimed that the show had nothing to do with her husband’s suicide and that it would have ended up the same or he would have killed her if the cameras weren’t around.

‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star Taylor Armstrong is opening up about her estranged husband’s suicide and defending her decision to do the show.

Armstrong tells KTLA that she was in “an abusive relationship for six years,” and the presence –or absence — of cameras would not have altered that “reality.”

She also calls the show her “saving grace” and says she and her 5-year-old daughter, Kennedy, would likely have fallen victim to domestic violence, had it not been for the program.

“If the cameras were not in my life, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be sitting here today because a lot of domestic violence situations end in murder-suicide versus just suicide.”

Armstrong says she spent five weeks in her house after her estranged husband, Russell Armstrong, 47, committed suicide. The troubled investment banker and venture capitalist was found hanging in a bedroom at a home on Mulholland Drive.

Many questioned whether being on the show contributed to his death.

Taylor Armstrong filed for divorce in July, claiming Russell physically abused her.

She says she has a titanium implant holding her right eye up as a result of the alleged violence.

“That’s a pretty significant situation,” she said.

Armstrong says the show gave her the platform to help other women in similar situations.

“I’m thankful to be here, especially for my daughter,” she said. “Imagine if she had two less parents instead of one. It’s been hard enough for her and I… I feel thankful at this point.”

[From KTLA]

So her dead husband didn’t kill her and committed suicide when he was alone, but he could have killed her if he had the chance, and none of this has anything to do with the pressure Russell felt from appearing on RHOBH. Taylor was horribly abused by Russell and it may be the case that he could have mudered her at some point. However he didn’t, and he has three children he’s left behind. When speaking of her ex’s awful legacy, I think Taylor should stick to the very terrible facts and not call him a potential killer, especially when his daughter was there in the studio with her. I hope little Kennedy, five, didn’t hear her mom say any of that. At least the newscasters questioned her about it and didn’t seem to buy her story.

Taylor has moved on after her estranged husband’s death. She’s been spotted out with Most Eligible Dallas castmember Matt Nordgren. She denied dating Nordgren in her KTLA interview, calling him “a good friend of mine.”

Story lead via ONTD