The tragedy of Whitney Houston’s death is huge. But the timing is awful, too. Suddenly, the annual pre Grammy dinner given by her mentor Clive Davis — which she was scheduled to attend– is set to become a memorial. It’s too late to cancel the 800 plus person dinner here at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. So somberly the theme of the evening will be to celebrate Houston’s life. This has to be extremely painful for Davis, who has counseled Whitney and stood by her through thick and thin. As recently as last year Davis guided Houston back into rehab with her personal counselor and took extreme care to make sure she was alright. Before she started filming “Sparkle” late last fall she reassured him she was ok. And my sources from the movie set swore to me that Houston was in fine shape. Her death is immeasurably sad for her daughter Bobbi Kristina, her mother Cissy, sister in law and manager Pat Houston and the rest of their family. But for Davis it’s a stunning blow.
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