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Gayle King Says Oprah Winfrey Romance Rumors Used to "Really Bother" Her
Whitney Houston's estate has spoken out on a claim made against the late singer.
After Oprah Winfrey recalled an incident where the “I Will Always Love You” hitmaker fell off stage during a performance on her talk show, alleging she was under the influence of drugs at the time, Whitney’s estate executor Pat Houston slammed the accusation.
"Whitney absolutely fell off the stage, but it was during a sound check, and it was due to the darkness of the area and her unfamiliarity with the stage,” Pat told TMZ in a statement June 23. “She was absolutely not high."
Pat did, however, acknowledge the Grammy winner’s past addiction struggles, which ultimately contributed to her death following an accidental drowning in 2012. She was 48.
"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,” Pat explained. “What the studio audience witnessed on stage was the result of discipline, talent, and commitment—not the assumptions others project."
Pat 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."
Oprah made the bombshell claim during her sit-down conversation at Cannes Lions June 23, where she received the festival’s LionHeart Award.
Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images, Getty Images/The Preachers Wife
During the talk, Oprah reflected on the singer’s final appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
“We did the whole, ‘Hey girl, how you doing?’ greeting thing and then I stopped the cameras and I went behind stage and I said, ‘So tell me, what do you want to happen here? And I’m gonna tell you what I want to happen here,'” Oprah recalled of her conversation with Whitney before the appearance, according to a video shared by Variety. “And that was one of the most powerful interviews.”
However, Oprah said when Whitney returned for a performance, she showed signs that she’d relapsed in her addiction.
Photo by Jean Cummings/Fotos International/Getty Images
“I think it was her last show with us, and she had gone back on drugs,” Oprah said. “The first interview I did with her when we’d gone behind stage and I asked her about her intention, she was clean, but the day she came to my show then to perform in front of the audience, she was not, and she fell off of the stage.”
In an effort to keep the “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” artist’s reputation from getting “destroyed” in the press, Oprah recalled asking the audience to keep the incident under wraps.
“And so even though the audience was there and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life, and they did not,” she said. “That would not happen today, I can tell you that.”
E! News has reached out to a representative for Oprah for further comment but has not yet heard back.
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