Bobby Brown Explains Why He Left Whitney Houston's Funeral
Credit: Jackson Lee / Splash News
Whitney Houston's funeral packed the inside of Newark's New Hope Baptist Church Saturday. But one notable person who was absent from the crowd was her ex-husband Bobby Brown.
A witness tells Us Weekly that Brown "was allowed to go in, pay his respects and then he had to leave. He was red-eyed going up to the casket and then left. He was there for 15 minutes."
PHOTOS: Whitney and Bobby's family album
Addressing the speculation that he was thrown out, turned away and rumors that he didn't show at all, Brown, who's schedule to perform at a concert Saturday, has released an official statement, explaining the situation in full.
"My children and I were invited to the funeral of my ex-wife Whitney Houston," he said, referring to his three kids from previous relationships Landon, 26, La'princia, 21, Robert Jr., 20, plus Cassius, his two-year-old with wife Alicia Etheridge. "We were seated by security and then subsequently asked to move on three separate occasions. I fail to understand why security treated my family this way and continue to ask us and no one else to move. Security then prevented me from attempting to see my daughter Bobbi Kristina. In light of the events, I gave a kiss to the casket of my ex-wife and departed as I refused to create a scene. My children are completely distraught over the events. This was a day to honor Whitney. I doubt Whitney would have wanted this to occur. I will continue to pay my respects to my ex-wife the best way I know how."
PHOTOS: Whitney Houston, 1963-2012
Earlier this week, a source told Us that there is still underlying tension between Houston's relatives and Brown, who married Houston in 1992. Their divorce was finalized in 2007.
VIDEO: Whitney's ups and downs
"There are family members who felt Bobby drove Whitney into drugs," one source explained. "But now Bobby is clean and Whitney has unfortunately passed. So there's resentment."
Tell Us What You Think
38I must say I would have had issues with the 9 extra guests at ANY gathering I might have had unless it was a church picnic. My folks would have made this clear in the beginning. However death is just HARD even when 92 year people, [who loved the Lawd alll they lives] pass away emotions are high and we are not always thinkn with a clear mind. Bobby's kids were still Whitney's step children. She was still their step mother. Divorce and even death do NOT dissolve these relationships. When my sister's mother passed away as well her mother's husband some years before I was RIGHT there Singin, leadin the processional, and in her time of sickness I was tellin the nurses what we needed to have happen. One has to respect the relationship of the blood relatives to the dead and those extending. Whether ya like the man or not, Whitney had a daughter, they have a granddaughter and a niece etc., BECAUSE of ONE man, Bobby Brown. Besides, Bobbi Christina just lost her MAMA for the love of Goodness. If she wants her daddy then LET her have him and alll her siblings. NoBODY knows her pain, her thoughts nothing. Allow her to be consoled for a moment. I truly hope they can all find peace in all this. In the best of circumstances it is never easy. God Blessum and Help them
Its very sad but don't giveup, RIP Whitney and Bobby God Bless u
I don't think they should have treated Bobby Brown like they did.He was there to pay his respect to his ex-wife.He should have been there with his daughter .Even though you get a divorce that doesn't mean that you hate the person.There will always be love in your heart for that person,especially if you have children with them.Whitney you will be missed from people all around the world.I hope and pray that your daughter follows in your footsteps.May God bless your family through this tough time.TRUE FAN IN FLORIDA
I agree with almost everyones comments I've read on here. It was very UNChristian for so called long time Devoted Christians to show us how develish and snobbish they really are. I mean really, why try to prove a point at the funeral. I'm really Ashamed of how the Children were treated(Bobbys) who lived with them and loved Whitney too! Are they so well off that they don't understand how to conduct themselves as so? I'm sure Whitney wouldn't have approved of this, she wouldn't treat her worst enemy this way. What a Shameful Day for the Whitney's. Your So Called Faith was Tested and you Failed miserabley!
Even Cher was able to speak at Sonny's funeral. She brought her daughter/son. I hope Bobby and his daughter, Bobby Christina are able to heal their relationship. What a loss Whitney was.
I think it a disgrace and very UNChristian that Whitney's maternal family made Bobby brown and what were her step-children s uncomfortable they had to leave! he had as much right to be there as the mother or any other family member,if in fact Whitney still maintained family ties with him,which she did judging by a family dinner she shared with him just prior to her death. How uncharitable of Cissy Houston to disrespect such a significant person in her life as if she gets to validate their long standing union. I lost all respect for her. Kudos to Bobby Brown for having the class to leave quietly.
When you have children together....EX, never means over. There are birthdays, holidays, graduations, weddings, and birth of grandchildren, etc. I am not a Bobby Brown fan, but he was treated with disrespect. Bobby's other children, had lived in the home with Whitney and himself, and were close to her. They loved her. I doubt seriously that Whitney would have approved of such treatment of Bobby Brown. Whatever happened during their tumultuous marriage, was not all the doing of one person. Whitney made choices, and it was well established that she was a "Party Girl" before meeting Bobby. Having said that, Bobby was abusive to her, and that is unexcusable, however, one never knows what goes on behind the closed doors of someone else. It is time to stop pointing fingers, and move on. Whitneys family was dead wrong to treat him this way. They blame him for her drug use, yet he got clean, and Whitney continued to use drugs, long after that. At what point does someone become responsible for themselves? Just sayin'
Funerals and weddings are always testy. If an invite says +2 (as Caradona Cochran said) you don't bring 9 people. We don't know what sort of relationship Whitney had with Bobby's other offspring after the divorce.
If the invite said bobby Brown+2, bring 2 people. It is rude to do otherwise. He came asking for trouble. What would anyone do if the sent an invitation to a wedding and someone brought 9 people? You would tell the invited person that the others could not come in. It doesn't take that much intelligence, that is, unless his brain is fried from drugs.
I think the real reason they hate Bobby Brown is he has he life together. He's working steadily and he's been clean and sober for years. Whitney, at 48, didn't have her life together. She was still a mess. And she died from prescription drugs and booze. It's makes her people feel better to trash Bobby Brown then to accept the truth about their beloved Whitney. There were all those people there yesterday that didn't matter. Bobby Brown mattered. Aretha Franklin who everyone said was so close to Whitney didn't even bother to show up. And everyone's bashing Bobby Brown???
Keisha.....when you have a child together you are forever linked...........
And has anyone else ever noticed how people often go their seperate ways in life, and whenever someone we know or knew dies and they announce the funeral, etc, that people come out of the wood work? Even sometimes people that HARDLY knew the departed, they just go to say goodbye and pay their respects, because it's the RIGHT THING TO DO? By Bobby showing up at her service, was the RIGHT THING TO DO, he was doing his part in saying his goodbyes and paying his respects. I've attended funeral services where people have showed up that I didn't like, but I wasn't about to tell them "HEY YOU CAN'T BE HERE, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE." People have to remember, at a funeral, the reason for EVERYONE gathering there in the first place is sad and tragic enough, why make things HARDER for family and loved ones during such a difficult time? Why not just allow everyone to pay to share in honoring someone who has passed away? Why make people feel uncomfortable? I Mean, if you ask me, funerals IN AND OF THEMSELVES, are uncomfortable enough without THE DRAMA for Pete's sake!!!!!
That's ashame If anybody ever looked at the tv show Being Bobby Brown those kids lived with Whitney and Bobby and was on the show. The family should have put there feelings aside for 5 hours. That would have been the Godly thing to do.
And regardless of what Bobby and Whitney had gone through in the past, that's water under the bridge. And I am sure at one point, even though their relationship may have been tumultuous and what not, I am also sure they shared a love and a bond that at one point noone would understand. So to dismiss the guy like he was a stranger at her funeral was EXTREMELY DISRESPECTFUL. AND IN ALL HONESTY, a funeral service is about paying homage to the recently departed, it's NOT A PERSONAL VENDETTA or an ILL- WILL GAME towards guests who choose to attend the service. It's not a personal thing, it's about someone being able to have the opportunity to say their good-byes to the person that was ONCE A part of their life, and to put their memory to rest. I don't care how good or bad their relationship was, the fact is, Bobby was a part of Whitney's life, and the simple fact that her family did not insist that Bobby stay for the service was selfish and disrespectful. He had every right to be there and he had every right to observe the memorial service.
Bobby Brown should have been able to pay his respects in an appropriate manner, the thing I find odd is, not only WHY they treated Bobby Brown like that by making him feel uncomfortable to the point that he had to leave the service, but her was her only husband and the father of her only child, so why didn't the family allow Bobby to at least speak at the service and perhaps give a eulogy. Instead, Kevin Costner was allowed to speak and pay his respects to Whitney? Although Kevin's was a moving speech, it would not have been as profound had it been coming from soemone like Bobby who knew Whitney first hand and spent most of his time with her. Bobby knew Whitney best, he knew the good, the bad, and the ugly side, and her knew her intimately. A few words from Bobby would have been a respectable thing for the family to allow. It's a shame that he couldn't even speak on behalf of his former wife. he was married to the woman for 15 years and they have a daughter together for christ sake! And the funeral was to pay respect to Whitney, and the way they treated him and his family was wrong. Whitney would have wanted to see everyone together, and not allowing him to even console his own daughter Bobbi Kristina at the funeral is also wrong. That is her father, regardless of what the family or others might think.
Yes, Whitney made her own choices in life but she also chose to divorce Bobby. "Ex" means OVER. So he was owed nothing. Bobbi Kristina is a big girl. If she wanted to be part of her father, then she would have. She has witnessed so much between her mother and father. Since the divorce all of her appearances (interviews,etc.) has been with her MOTHER. If she wants her dad in her life, she is old enough to make those decisions. Do we even know how long it's been since she even had dealing with her father since the divorce? NO! Apparently, she's struggling with her own issues and emotions. So the pity party for Bobby Brown should stop!... The statement to the press was uncalled for and he always trying to make it about him
It was absolutley DEPLORABLE the way Bobby Brown and his family (not enterouge) was treated. All this b.s. talk about blaming Bobby for Whitney's demise is absurd!! Might as well blame Ray J. The Houston family may not have liked the man but at the end of the day, he STILL and ALWAYS will be Bobbi- Kristina's father. There were people there that barely knew the woman. If the man came with 100 people it should not have mattered. To reject the man from seeing his grieving daughter was just so disgusting and un- believable on so many levels. This was a funeral, all feelings should have been put aside. As for him releasing a statement... Why not?! Of course people wanted to know whyhe abruptly left the funeral. Some of the commentsI'm reading from ignorant, narrow- minded people are just amazing. I guess all of you are "CHRISTIANS" too. The man showed more class than the Houston family did!!!
Sad! Even at her funeral Booby (pun intended) could not behave with respect. It was a funeral he should have quietly sat down with his invited +2. The others could have been seated in the back of the church. It was not about him. But of course being the selfish reprobate that he is, he made it about himself. Disgraceful.
I was a drug addict too! But now i have a new life, thanks to some tips that me and my friend realised everyone can do to start a new life and let the weed and other stuff behind. Just follow quitmarijuana(dot)nightwin(dot)com and get a new life!
Really these articles are getting tiresome. It is quite simple. The funeral was by invite. Unless the invite said Bobby Brown+9, he was an idiot for bringing people. He was supposed to be there to support his daughter, not make himself the center of attention with a crew.