As the premiere of a new documentary on the life of Whitney Houston approaches, the family is really feeling the essence of the late Pop/R&B legend, hard. Simply titled Whitney, the film will take a deep dive into the intimate life of the beloved songbird. Her mother, Cissy Houston ended up feeling stumped when she was told there were allegations of molestation during the childhood of her children that will also be told in the film, according to the Associated Press.
Sister-in-law to Whitney, Patricia Houston who is the brains behind the film, described the making of the film as being “difficult.” Not only did she have to re-visit her own colorful memories with the megastar, but she had to tell Cissy about a shocking act her late daughter never bothered to tell her about. “It was deeply a revelation for her. You think about her, and it being a bit overbearing for her to hear — and her kids not telling her. That’s pretty tough to have to deal with,” said Patricia.
The alleged abuser is the sister of Dionne Warwick, Dee Dee Warwick who is also the niece of Cissy Houston. Houston and her brother Gary are the alleged victims. The incidents reportedly occurred whenever Cissy was out on tour which makes the hypothesized decade the 1960s. Dee Dee Warwick who died in 2008, was 18 years older than Whitney and her brother who was said to be between the ages of seven and nine when the alleged incidents occurred.
Kevin MacDonald, the director of Whitney believes the alleged child molestation incident has played a major role in Houston’s misery. “I don’t think you can explain anyone’s life from one particular event that’s happened to them. But I think that it’s certainly fair to say that it’s maybe, in my opinion, the major contributor to Whitney’s unhappiness,” MacDonald said. “That and the fact that she never talked about it, and that nobody in the family talked about this and clearly it happened as you’d learned in the film.”
With the use of interviews, old news stories, behind the scenes footage, and rare intimate homemade clips and photos, Whitney will showcase the “Nippy” side of the Grammy-award winning singer, a side that was not prone to the gains that fame had to offer. This approach used by MacDonald is one that may satisfy hardcore fans due to its sense of causality which is rather, journalistic. Whitney will premiere in theaters nationwide on Friday, July 6.
