Already have an account?
Get back to the

Nick Gordon Says Bobbi Kristina Brown Abused Drugs After Whitney Houston’s Death

The truth comes out. Nick Gordon opened up to Dr. Phil McGraw about how his late girlfriend Bobbi Kristina Brown abused drugs leading up to the bathtub incident in January 2015 and, eventually, her death at age 22, six months later.

In an episode of Dr. Phil airing later this week, Gordon shared with Dr. Phil how Brown’s life spiraled out of control after the death of her superstar mother, Whitney Houston, in 2012. In a preview from the sit-down interview, Dr. Phil asks Gordon point-blank: “Did she have a drug problem?”

Related: Bobbi Kristina Brown's Life in Her Own Words: Tragedy, Reality, and the Future

“Krissy?” Gordon replies. “Yeah … socially. Maybe smoke a little bit.”

Nick Gordon and Dr. Phil

That recreational drug use eventually turned into a dependency. “It got really bad after Nippy passed away,” he says, referring to Houston. “It’s unfortunate, but at the time it’s the only way we knew how to deal with what had happened.”

In circumstances eerily similar to her mother’s passing, Brown was found face-down and unresponsive in a bathtub in her suburban Atlanta home on January 31, 2015. The medical examiner’s office later found that at the time of her drowning, drugs were in her system, including marijuana, alcohol, benzoylecgonine (a cocaine-related substance), benzodiazepines (sedatives and anxiety treatment) and morphine. She never woke up after the bathtub incident, and passed away on July 26, 2015.

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars We’ve Lost

Following Brown’s death, Gordon descended into severe drug and alcohol abuse, and ended up in rehab after a headline-making intervention by Dr. Phil. “I was drinking so much at the time because I could not deal with what was happening to Krissy,” Gordon recalled. “It mentally broke me. That’s the lowest part of my life right there.”

Whitney Houston and Bobbi Kristina Brown

Luckily, he received the help he needed. “Rehab was something I needed and I’m thankful I got that opportunity,” Gordon said to Dr. Phil.

Related: Bobbi Kristina Brown's Death: See Her Sweetest Moments With Mom Whitney Houston

He’s currently facing a $10 million wrongful-death lawsuit filed last August by Brown’s conservator, Bedelia Hargrove. In her documents, Hargrove claimed that Brown died after a “violent altercation with Gordon, after which he placed her in a bathtub, unconscious, after he injected her with a toxic mixture.” Gordon’s lawyer has since released a counterstatement saying Hargrove’s claims are “slanderous and meritless.”

In a separate interview with the Daily Mail on Wednesday, April 27, Gordon said he wished Brown had gone to rehab at the height of her troubles. “I can’t blame myself for another addict’s addiction, but I feel like I failed her. She didn’t make it. I wish she got help,” he said. “I did not protect her the way that I was supposed to – even if it was from herself.”

His interview with Dr. Phil will air on Thursday, April 28, and Friday, April 29. Check local listings.

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!