Video of Bobbi Kristina and Nick together is here

This is one controversial story that I didn’t want to discuss when it came out, but now that there’s more news about it we may as well. I’ll start with an anecdote that comes to mind. About 15 years ago, when I was in college, I met a couple through a mutual friend that kind of blew my mind. They were step-brother and step-sister, not related at all except by marriage, and they acted like best buddies in public until one night when they started making out at a party. It skeeved both my friend and me out, but we acted cool about it and tried not to judge. I barely knew the couple and I lost touch with that friend, but I will always remember seeing them make out and wondering how that worked exactly. I have a brother and even if he wasn’t my blood brother I like to think I could never view him that way. Maybe since I have a brother I’m reacting more strongly to this than I otherwise would. (There’s also a couple on “Teen Mom,” Catelynn and Tyler, who are step brother and sister. Their situation is different because Catelynn and Tyler were dating before their parents met and got married.)

As you know Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, lost her mother Whitney Houston just over a month ago. It’s a lot to deal with at such a young age, and she must be very vulnerable. We heard from Bobbi in an interview with Oprah last weekend. She sounded like she’s coping well, but it just seemed way too soon to be interviewing her. (And one of Bobbi’s aunts agrees.) Bobbi is now involved in what looks like a new romance with her “adopted brother” Nick Gordon, 22. Nick was living with Bobbi and her mom since he was 12, basically for the last 10 years, although he is not related to her at all. He’s currently living with her in the late Whitney’s mansion, and they were recently spotted out kissing and holding hands.

Nick has blasted his critics on twitter, and he sounds like he’s being defensive about the romance, not that he’s denying it at all. Outlets are reporting that Nick is tweeting that he’s not dating Bobbi Kristina, but read these tweets and tell me if he’s defending himself or saying he’s not involved with her. (Note that he seems to have cleaned up this account and I can no longer find these tweets.)

“Yea we got a little closer and what!”

Though he was never formally adopted by Whitney Houston, Gordon was essentially Houston’s “adopted son” after the late singer took him in when he was just 12-years old, her brother Michael Houston told ABCNews.com.

Similarly, Bobbi Kristina and Gordon were raised like brother and sister, though they are not blood-related.

“All the haters that don’t know us or the real story can’t unfollow me. I don’t give a f–k,” Gordon wrote on Twitter to address the rumors. “I’ve proved my loyalty to her and the Houston family. I don’t owe any of you anything. Ha, I don’t even know y’all haters.”

Bobbi Kristina’s “brother” also added that anyone who thought they were having an incestuous relationship because of the “sibling” label was badly mistaken.

“For the stupid ppl out there, she gave birth to 1 child. And she trusted me with EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!” he wrote.

“She called me her ‘God Son,’” he continued. “I swear some ppl in this world act like they don’t have a brain …”

[From The Daily News]

Now Bobbi Kristina’s grandmother, Whitney’s mom, has told TMZ off the record that she thinks this is like incest and that Nick is taking advantage of Bobbi. Well, Bobbi is the sole heir to her late mom’s fortune. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Cissy Houston — Whitney Houston’s mom — has reacted fiercely to the video we posted Wednesday … showing Bobbi Kristina and Whitney’s “adopted” son Nick Gordon in a romantic grip, and then kissing (below).

Cissy told a close friend, “What they’re doing is incestuous.” Cissy feels her granddaughter has problems and Nick is taking advantage of her.

Although Whitney never formally adopted Nick, she considered him her son and Bobbi called him her brother. For his part, Nick called Bobbi his sister.

Cissy is so concerned that Bobbi has become impressionable and therefore an easy target for Nick, she’s asking the Whitney Houston Estate to take legal steps to get him evicted from Whitney’s home — where Bobbi Kristina is also living.

[From TMZ]

If they called each other brother and sister for the last 10 years, I don’t really get it. I do understand how relatives could be outraged. It’s not that I think it’s necessarily wrong, and Bobbi deserves some happiness. It’s just that I can’t imagine it personally, if that makes sense. Hopefully they genuinely care for each other and Nick has Bobbi’s best interests at heart.

Photo credit: OWN via PCNPhotos and Twitter

Just reading some of these quotes from Bobbi Kristina on Oprah’s show honestly made me cry a little. I cannot imagine losing my mom like that and my heart goes out to her. Still, I do feel like it’s too soon for her to be giving interviews about her mom’s death. Oprah scored an interview with Whitney Houston’s 19 year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. (Update: DListed has the video, and it’s below now.) From the little I could see on the video, Bobbi Kristina seems in good spirits. She finds a lot of comfort in her fond memories of her mom, and belief that she’s with her in spirit. Here’s some of what she said:

In her first interview since Whitney Houston’s death, daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown said she’s “doing as good as I possibly can” and recalled the tender last moments she shared with her superstar mother before her sudden death last month.

“She’s always with me,” said the 19-year-old, Houston’s only child and sole heir. “Her spirit is strong, it’s a strong spirit. I feel her pass through me all the time.”

“I can hear her voice in spirit talking to me, ‘Keep talking to me. I got you,’” says Brown. “She’s always with me. I can always feel her. I can always feel her with me. She always asked me,’Do you need me?’ And I caught myself, out of nowhere, I didn’t even know I said it, I said, ‘I’ll always need you.’ ”

Brown made the comments in a Sunday interview with Oprah Winfrey on Winfrey’s network, OWN, that also featured Pat Houston, the singer’s manager and sister-in-law, and Gary Houston, the brother of Whitney Houston.

Brown credited her family and God for helping her cope since her mother’s death on Feb. 11 at the age of 48.

“It comes in waves. One moment I can be happy and laughing, but then it comes over me. It’s my mom,” she said.

Houston, who had struggled with drugs and alcohol in the past but according to family had been apparently clean, was found in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on the eve of the Grammys. She was to attend a pre-Grammy party the night she died.

Brown said the night before her mother’s death, she asked Houston to spend the night with her.

“I slept in her arms all day, all night long,” said Brown, whose father is singer Bobby Brown.

Pat Houston said in the days before Houston died, the singer had not been abusing drugs, despite reports that she had been acting erratically.

[From Huffington Post, with additional quotes from People.com]

Bobbi Kristina also said that she just automatically wakes up at 5:00 am every day and starts praying for her mom. She said that she believes her mom turns on and off lights in the house. She added “I can still laugh. I can still sit there and I can still talk to her.” She also thinks that Whitney’s spirit told her that it was ok for her to “come home.”

As for the other interview on Oprah’s show last night, it’s worth noting that Pat Houston is not the sister-in-law who sold Whitney out to the National Enquirer years ago, nor is she the sister-in-law who was wasted out of her mind on Access Hollywood recently. Those two in-laws are on Bobby Brown’s side, predictably. Like the wasted sister-in-law we just heard from, Pat Houston seems to think there’s some kind of conspiracy surrounding Whitney’s death. She told Oprah she “didn’t know how” Whitney got in the tub where she was found dead. Pat didn’t say outright that Whitney was murdered, though, she just hinted that there was something fishy about it.

I’m glad to know that Bobbi is ok, and that she seems sober. She’s going to launch some kind of singing career, which she was reportedly aiming for prior to her mother’s death. She told Oprah “I have to carry on the legacy. We’re going to do the singing thing. Some acting, some dancing.” I just hope she has good people around her.

There’s also news that Bobbi Kristina wants to change her last name from “Brown” to “Houston,” probably more in memory of her mom than necessarily to cut ties with her dad. At least I hope that’s the case.

Update: Here’s the video, .

Is it wrong that when I’m watching this would-be serious video with Bobby Brown’s sister that all I can focus on are her sparkly eyes and glistening lips? She’s got some huge spider eyelashes going on too. Anyway Bobby Brown’s sister talked to Access Hollywood about how concerned she is for her niece, Bobby and Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina. She also seems to think Whitney’s death was some kind of conspiracy. Unlike the family friend who previously spoke to Extra, “Aunt Dolly,” Bobbi Kristina’s real aunt seems like she’s in it for the paycheck and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Bobbi. She wants Bobbi Kristina to know that she shouldn’t trust anyone, though, except for her dad, grandmother and herself of course. She also seems to think Whitney’s death was some kind of conspiracy, probably because she takes a cocktail of prescription drugs too and nothing’s happened to her yet. Here’s some of what she said, and you really have to watch it. She can hardly keep her eyes open, and it’s no wonder with all the crap she has spackled on them. In all seriousness she looks completely drugged out and wasted to me. Poor Bobbi Kristina.

Bobbi Kristina should not trust anyone
I want to say to Krissy that it’s very very very important that she does not trust anybody at this time, anybody except her father, her grandmother Sissy and myself. And I mean that.

Right now is the time to just really shut the door.

Bobby Brown is not to blame
Bobby [Brown] has nothing, nothing at all to do with Whitney’s death.

[Whitney's] father said he was tired of people talking about his son-in-law. He said Bobby had nothin’ to do with Whitney doing drugs in the past or whatever. Bobby had nothing to do with that.

Believes Whitney’s death was not an accident.
I believe Whitney’s death was not accidental. No.

My attorney has advised me not to get into that at all, but it’s very important to know, she did not pass away like that. No. If it’s the last thing I do I’m going to find out what truly happened to my sister.

This is not same sister who sold out Whitney to the Enquirer back in 2006 by taking photos of her bathroom strewn with drug paraphernalia. Here’s a picture of that lady, Tina Brown. That’s a different person. This is Leola Brown.

Leola’s lawyer also spoke and said “there are persons that possibly who would want to take advantage of Bobbi Kristina’s fragile state of mind.” He seemed sober enough, especially compared to Leola. What can I say except that Bobby Brown has relatives with drug problems who are talking to the press. Watch that video above and tell me this lady is sober by any stretch.

Whitney Houston in her coffin is still on the cover of The National Enquirer, on newsstands everywhere. The issue won’t be replaced until Thursday or Friday of this week. In the two stores that I’ve checked, The Enquirer has been moved behind the other tabloids so that the only thing visible is the headline. Several of you commented on the story that you saw the issue out and visible at a child’s eye level.

Well not only is this photo presumably devastating to Whitney’s family, it could seriously damage the business of the funeral home where it was taken. The owner of the facility where Whitney was interred, the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J., told The Daily News that the leak of the photo was “devastating” to her personally and to her longstanding family business. What’s more is that the owner swears that security guards were with Whitney’s body 24 hours a day up until the private family viewing. So someone in Whitney’s inner circle had to have taken and sold that photo. Despicable.

The respected owner of Whitney Houston’s funeral home said Friday she’s “devastated” a photo of the singer in her open casket appeared on the cover of the National Enquirer.

Carolyn Whigham wants fans to know her family-run business did not sell the now notorious image and that she’s “horrified” by accusations her close-knit staff is to blame, she told the Daily News.

“We did not take that photo. We did not sell the photo. We would never do something like that,” the second-generation CEO of the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J., said.

“Whitney was a friend,” she continued. “I’m the one who flew to Los Angeles and got Whitney from the coroner’s office. I did everything to protect her.”

She said a deluge of distressing emails from irate Houston fans now has her fearing for her staff’s safety.

“One email said that if the person owned a dog, and the dog died, they would not come to my funeral home,” she said with sadness. “I’m worried about my employees, worried about me. I’ve been in business since 1943. This is my name, my character. Honestly, this is my life’s work. We would never do something like this.”

She said Houston’s family has made it clear they do not blame her business.

“I am very confident they are on the same page with me. Family friend Tyler Perry was on the Steve Harvey (radio) show this morning, and he said emphatically he knows we did not do it,” she told The News.

She said security was with Houston the entire time her body was at the funeral home.

“They were there 24 hours a day. They slept there with her. She was never alone, anywhere,” Whigham said. “The only time security fell back was when the family had the private viewing Friday. We weren’t involved with that. The family invited its own guests.”

[From The NY Daily News]

Several of you who work in the funeral industry commented on this story last week and we’re grateful to you for your insight, particularly to MorticiansDoItDeader and another commenter who just used an ellipses as a handle. Morticians said that the funeral home should have asked visitors to surrender their cellphones as a precaution given the high profile person interred there. She also noted that the embalmers did a good job with Whitney.

There was also the issue of Whitney being buried in 1/2 million worth of jewelry, which Morticians and many of you considered irresponsible by the Enquirer to put out there, as it could invite grave robbers. Morticians noted that it’s not likely Whitney will be buried in that jewelry. “We take that off when everyone leaves and give it back to the family after the service.” The owner of the funeral home said basically the same thing to The Daily News about the jewelry. “That’s crazy. It’s not true.” Poor Whitney and poor Bobbi Kristina. I hope she’s ok, but I’m glad we haven’t heard much about her. Hopefully her family is around her at this time.

Let me get this out of the way at the start, as the title can sound misleading. This isn’t some nefarious plot by Ray-J to cash in on Whitney post-mortem. Apparently he’s genuinely heartbroken over her death and is unsure if he’ll continue to pursue plans for a reality show, which would include footage of the two of them together. (Remember he did issue a very sad statement after she passed.) Ray-J was pitching a reality show prior to Whitney’s death, and part of that included using his relationship with the famous singer to make his show seem more interesting. In light of this, some are questioning whether Ray J was using Whitney in the months leading up to her death. The Daily Beast has an article about Ray J and Whitney’s relationship and how it came about. They mention that Ray J was sweet and charming with Whitney, but that he wasn’t faithful to her by any stretch. Whitney was allegedly aware of this and didn’t seem to mind. Here’s the part at the end of story questioning whether Ray had ulterior motives for getting with Whitney in the months leading up to her death:

But others are less kind about his motives. One source points to how—just like Brown—Ray J was trying to pitch a reality TV series with him and Houston. “He was just using her like many people did, to get a deal,” the source says.

In an exclusive statement to The Daily Beast, Ray J’s publicist Courtney Barnes says: “It was his show, and they shot footage of the two of them together that appeared in the sizzle reel, which was being used to pitch the show.”

Those who know Ray J say he’s always been a hard worker when it comes to his career. He’s released five albums on independent music labels and promoted them heavily, even when it wasn’t easy. “He’s extremely dedicated to his craft,” says Paula Tuggey, a music executive who has worked on his recent albums. “I can book him from 7 a.m. until midnight. He’ll do anything that he can to get his music out there to be heard.”

On the night of Houston’s death, Ray J was in San Diego.

Steffans [one of Ray's former lovers] says she reached out to him out of concern. “I don’t think Ray is OK,” she says. “I don’t think any of us would be OK. I think Ray is going to be traumatized forever.”

“He hasn’t talked to anybody yet. He’s not ready yet,” his publicist says. Asked if he’s still shopping the reality show that includes footage of Houston, his publicist emailed back, “I don’t know.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Ray J had a dating reality show on VH1 called “For The Love of Ray J,” which aired for two seasons in 2009 and 2010. He also had a two season reality show with his sister, Brandy, called “Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business,” in 2010 and 2011. So it just seems expected that he would be pitching another reality show to try and keep the money flowing. I don’t think it means he was using Whitney. It’s not like he just met her. He first hooked up with her way back in early 2007 when she was divorcing Bobby Brown, according to a source quoted on The Daily Beast. The two were even seen out on a date together as early as January, 2007, I remember covering that. So I believe that Ray cared for Whitney in his way and that he’s probably devastated to lose her. I wouldn’t put it past him to make sure that his reality show makes it to air, and to use Whitney to continue to promote it, whether its disrespectful to Whitney’s memory or not. After all, he made sure that his sex tape with Kim Kardashian got released. He probably planned out the whole thing from start to uh, finish, and we know that Kim’s career was launched from it.

Ray J and Whitney are shown out together in July, 2008. Credit: PRJ/Fame Pictures

This is a version in which I’ve blurred over the photo. In the version on newsstands, Whitney’s full face is shown. She’s made up and looks like she’s sleeping

I still remember when OK! Magazine featured a cover photo of Michael Jackson after he’d died. It was sad and unnecessary, and many people found it both disrespectful to the family and to Michael’s memory. That’s how I feel about this Enquirer cover photo of Whitney Houston’s open casket. This will be featured on the issue that’s about to hit newsstands today, and it makes me wonder: will it have a “family shield” to cover up this image of a dead person? My son is at an age where he can understand death, but when he was younger he had no concept of it and I wouldn’t want to have to explain it to the little guy in a supermarket checkout line. I’d rather my kid see some T&A (and he can see two daddies or mommies any day) than a dead person staring out at him. It’s not the image so much as the questions and sadness it brings up.

Last week The National Enquirer seemed to have stooped to a new low when they published photos inside the magazine that recreated Whitney’s death scene. They even had a photo on the cover that looked like Whitney laying dead face down on the bathroom floor. (Really! Here’s that cover above, thanks to Sammie.) That picture was captioned “Photo Re-Created” below in smallish lettering, but larger font screamed that they had “Exclusive Crime Scene Photos.” Well they didn’t have to use a fake Whitney to recreate the poor lady dead in her casket, since someone at a private open casket viewing scored a payday by snapping a photo and selling it to the tabloids. Here’s more:

Whitney Houston fans expressed shock and outrage Wednesday after the National Enquirer printed an image of the iconic singer in an open casket on its cover.

The morbid photo, purportedly taken inside the family’s private viewing at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J., last Friday, shows Houston’s body lying in her half-opened, polished bronze casket.

It shows the dead pop star wearing what looks like a purple dress along with a brooch pinned to her chest and an earing sparkling in her ear.

The headline claims she was buried wearing $500,000 worth of jewels and gold slippers on her feet.

Facebook and Twitter users lashed out at the tabloid, calling the move trashy and shameful.

“MADD at who ever sold Whitney Houston’s pic of her in a casket,” reality star Evelyn Lozada, from VH1′s “Basketball Wives,” wrote on Twitter.

“Whoever sold the photo of Whitney Houston in her coffin to the National Enquirer is a vile, twisted, evil and unscrupulous sub-human,” London-based fan Christiana Mbakwe tweeted.

Even celebrity blogger Perez Hilton called it a “tasteless, insensitive, morbid thing to do” on his eponymous website.

Of course, the death photo is hardly without precedent. The National Enquirer famously ran a photo of Elvis in his coffin in 1977.

[From The NY Daily News]

In 2007, The Enquirer ran a “photo recreation” of a deceased Anna Nicole Smith in a body bag after her death. We covered that, and some outlets claimed that the photos were really of Anna after her death. At least one paparazzi agency did claim to have photos of Anna’s corpse, which lent credence to the stories that it was really her.

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment: Whitney looks pretty in that photo in her casket, she appears at peace, and some may say that she lived in the public eye so it’s fitting that this photo be published. That reasoning doesn’t account for all the people and loved ones she left behind, particularly her 18 year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina. Bobbi is already going through the worst time of her life, how is this going to affect her to have to see her deceased mom on a tabloid cover? That’s just ridiculously mean. My heart has been sinking the whole time I’m writing this, because I’m imagining seeing a loved one in their casket before going through the awful process of attending their burial. We have open casket viewings to provide closure to family and loved ones, the dead person is not meant to be publicly gawked at.

I deliberately didn’t include a link to the photo. It’s all over the place though and if you have even moderate Google skill you can easily find it. Hell, just go to the store on Friday and it will probably be there already.

Kaiser and I have been frankly appalled at some of the coverage of Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, following her mother’s untimely death. Tabloids are pointing out that she’s been looking drugged-out, and that she was “wasted” at Whitney’s funeral. The consensus among a lot of people is that the poor girl’s mom just died and she deserves some compassion. I think it’s fine to report the facts, that she was understandably upset after her mom died (who wouldn’t be, my God) and that she passed out in a tub at the same hotel prior to when her mother was found to have died under sadly similar circumstances. To speculate on her drug use while she’s grieving, or to even report on it using solid sources, just seems to go too far. Even when it’s couched in concern, like this comparatively mild story in US Weekly, it bothers me. They do an ok job at sounding sympathetic, but I want Bobbi to have some privacy at this very sad and heartbreaking time for her. Here’s US‘ coverage, and they’re not the source we’re really talking about when we pose this question.

Prayers for Bobbi Kristina.

As the only child of the late Whitney Houston and Bobbi Brown reels from her mother’s sudden Feb. 11 death, her family members — including maternal grandmother Cissy Houston and cousin Dionne Warwick– are gravely concerned for the 18-year-old aspiring singer.

Multiple sources tell the new Us Weekly that the aspiring singer — who watched both of her parents struggle with substance abuse — has turned to drugs, and her loved ones are urging her to go to rehab.

“Whitney’s passing is sending Bobbi off the deep end,” one insider says, adding that her family is “shocked” by the scope of her issues.

“Bobbi’s problems are out of control,” the insider notes.

[From US Weekly]

I’m in my late 30s. If my mom died now I would be a total wreck and would probably go “off the deep end” too. I wouldn’t do drugs, but I would probably drink too much for a while. If my mom died when I was all of 18 I would have been on whatever anyone handed me. I don’t think it’s fair to report Bobbi Kristina’s issues or to scrutinize what she’s doing.

That said, I hope Bobbi gets to rehab if she needs it, but she needs friend and family around her at this terrible time, and rehab may be too isolating. A friend of the family, “Aunt Dolly” was on Extra! and she revealed that “the family is looking after” Bobbi and that “everybody is really around her, lifting her spirits up. Talking about her mom, and how much her mom loved her.” Just hearing that breaks my heart. Aunt Dolly also said that Bobbi “will have a chance to be around her cousins. To be around Cissy [her grandmother] more.”

Here’s one of my favorite comments on US Weekly:

This young lady has suffered an insurmountable loss … and worst yet, she has had to endure this tragedy under the microscope of the media. The best thing that you can do is not assume that demons are making their way into her life … let her mourn the loss of her beloved mother and grieve. None of us knows what it is like to be the child of a celebrity and then have to share ever waking moment of your existence with the world watching. Leave Bobbi Kristina alone because at the rate that the media/press is going, you’re going to push her down that path of destruction just for the sake of escaping you!

[From commenter Kimberly]

Last month, there was a really nice segment on the Today Show celebrating older stylish women. It was part of a promotion of a new documentary by a guy named Ari Seth Cohen who runs the wonderful blog Advanced Style. Ari photographs women he meets on the street, asks them about their personal sense of style and strikes up friendships with many of them. The women he profiles are often well into their 80s and 90s and he even has a couple centenarians among them.

One of the women profiled on Ari’s blog was a fabulous 95 year-old woman named Zelda Kaplan. He posted a video interview with Zelda, below, in which she said the secret to keeping young and feeling good was being “healthy and… interested in world affairs.” Zelda said she dresses up everyday and that she “has a beautiful wardrobe I’ve chosen myself.” She mentions that she buys her cloth for her handmade outfits “from the weaver.”

Sadly Zelda passed away at fashion week during a show, while she was sitting in the front row. The NY Post carried this news, along with some details about how well she lived and celebrated life up until the end.

Beloved club and fashion maven Zelda Kaplan died after collapsing in the front row at Fashion Week yesterday at age 95.

Kaplan, New York’s oldest and most beloved night owl and the woman who could famously “out-party even Paris Hilton,” collapsed at the Joanna Mastroianni show at The Studio at Lincoln Center.

Witnesses said the socialite “slumped forward” as the second model came out on the runway, and she was carried out and given CPR by paramedics. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital, but she couldn’t be revived.

Her death left attendees devastated. One told us, “Zelda passed away, right there, in the front row. Security carried her out, but the show just carried on. Everybody is distraught.”

A statement released by her friends yesterday read, “Zelda Kaplan passed away suddenly today at the age of 95 from natural causes . . . She will be deeply missed and always loved.”
Zelda, famed for her African outfits, dramatic hats and large sunglasses, was a club fixture right up to her death. She was at the opening of new XL last month, where she was photographed with Lance Bass and designer/stylist Indashio. Her close friends include fashion exec Keri Ingvarsson, stylist Mia Morgan, artist Andres Serrano and Richie Rich.

After moving here from New Jersey in the 1960s, Zelda became a party and fashion-world fixture, but also made regular visits to Africa to work on human rights issues.
She told The Post in 2010, “I wish more people would have [clothes] made for them. But so many Americans want to look like everybody else . . . I hate to wear what everybody else is wearing . . . I don’t think people should be happy to be a clone.”

Richie Rich told us, “Passing away in the front row was how it was meant to be. Zelda loves fashion, so she died for fashion. She would have wanted to go out in style. Zelda always said, ‘Live, live, live and have fun’ . . . I hope the angels are holding her right now.”

[From The NY Post]

It’s kind of bittersweet and sad yet heartwarming at the same time. She died doing what she loved.

Interview with Zelda Kaplan

Zelda is not shown in this video but I wanted to share it!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Photos of Zelda alone are from Advanced Style. Other photos credit: WENN.com

There are so many stories coming out after Whitney Houston’s untimely death this weekend. I’ll do my best to give an overview. Prior to covering all of this I just want to note that prescription drug overdoses now kill more people in the US than car accidents. I’ve seen prescription drug abuse affect people I know and it’s sad and scary to witness. I have a lot of sympathy for Whitney’s family, and of course for Whitney, but ultimately I feel that she is responsible for her addiction. It’s tragic that she paid for it with her life.

Investigation into her death
The Beverly Hills Police Department has announced that an investigation is ongoing into Whitney’s death, but that “it is not a criminal investigation” and that they are treating it as an accident. They state that “as of right now, it is a coroner’s case” and that they do not yet know the cause of death. TMZ claimed that a few pills were recovered at the scene including Xanax, Amoxicillin for a sore throat that Whitney was suffering, and Midol. Radar claims that three different sedatives were found in the room: Xanax, Lorazepam, and Valium.

Sedatives can cause serious side effects when mixed with alcohol. It’s known that Whitney was drinking that night. Some reports claim that Whitney’s family was told that there was not enough water in her lungs to conclude that she had died from drowning in the tub. Radar is now reporting that preliminary toxicology reports found benzodiazepines in her system. All of the sedatives reportedly found at the scene are benzodiazepines and can be fatal if mixed.

Whitney’s financial situation
Just prior to Whitney passing, the Enquirer ran a story that she was nearly destitute, and was back on drugs. Their sister site Radar Online has more on Whitney’s financial situation before she died, and they claim that she had been borrowing money from producer Clive Davis to live on. Whitney had a film coming up later this year that she co-produced and starred in, Sparkle, on which she was said to be hanging her hopes on a comeback. It will come out in August as scheduled and previous reports that it would be released early are said to be false.

The death scene
Both TMZ and Fox News are running photos featuring the tub where Whitney died and the remnants of the food she ordered from room service that fateful night. It’s tasteless to say the least and I don’t get the fascination with it.

The funeral plans
Whitney’s body has been returned to New Jersey on a private jet belonging to Tyler Perry. Her remains are being interred at a funeral home in her hometown of Newark, NJ. Her family is reportedly considering holding a wake on Thursday and a funeral on Friday. They’re said to be considering a public service at the Prudential center, which holds 18,000.

Whitney’s family
We’ve heard that Whitney’s only child, her 18 year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina, has been understandably inconsolable and needed to be hospitalized twice in the days following her mother’s death. Bobbi is said to have mixed a sedative with booze, just like her poor mom, and to have passed out. Bobbi’s most recent problems with drugs and alcohol may have preceded her mother’s death. She’s said to have also fallen asleep in a tub in the same hotel her mom died in, the day before Whitney’s died in an eerily similar way. Bobbi’s dad, Whitney’s ex husband Bobby Brown, has flown back to L.A. to be with his daughter.

Finger pointing and blame
Chaka Khan went on Piers Morgan last night and put a few people on blast for allowing Whitney, who has a well known and admitted history with addiction, to party in LA a week prior to her performance. I get that when someone dies you want to figure out why. As I mentioned above, Whitney made the decision to put those pills in her mouth. It’s not anyone’s fault and unlike Anna Nicole Smith it’s not like they were keeping her drugged for some nefarious purpose.

Celine Dion also made a statement that “It’s just really unfortunate that drugs, bad people, bad influences took over her dreams, her motherhood.” She also made comparisons to Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Amy Winehouse, and Michael Jackson. It seemed a little harsh at this point, but a lot of other people are saying it.

Condolences and tributes for Whitney
So many of us are in mourning that such a talented woman has died well before her time. There are a lot of sweet tributes in the press from celebrities who knew her and were inspired by her. Here are just a few:

Jennifer Hudson called it “greatest honor of my life” to sing for Whitney at the Grammys and said “I haven’t stopped crying since she passed.”

Singer Brandy said “My heart is destroyed. I lost my idol and dear friend.”

Bobby Brown issued a statement that he was “deeply saddened” and asked for privacy.

Even President Obama issued a statement through his press secretary, who said “I know that his thoughts and prayers are with her family, especially her daughter.”

And Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell made a visit to the Beverly Hilton, where Whitney died, to place flowers at a memorial for her there.

RIP Whitney.

Photo credit: WENN.com

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.