Chris Brown, already kind of bonkers, thinks he’s being crucified over his incident with Frank Ocean. And now, ta da, he’s posted this painting on Instagram.
Whitney Houston’s Mom Writes Unflinching Memoir, Calls The Singer a “Heifer”
Cissy Houston gave us just a taste of what she has on her mind last night with Oprah. Her book, “Remembering Whitney,” is the most candid, frank, harsh and unabashed since Keith Richards “Life.” This is so unusual for a celebrity memoir. But with Whitney gone, Cissy has nothing to lose. You get the feeling that these are the things she’s been waiting to say for 20 years or more. Whitney’s fans may not be so happy. Cissy’s book vindicates legendary singer Sam Moore’s CNN interview from last year– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8SBeaR-gSA. It’s heartbreaking but Whitney was out of control, a drug addict, self-possessed and determined not listen to anyone.
On Oprah, Cissy says of Whitney: “I made her what she was.” In the book, Cissy — who was a famous back up singer but never had the career of her cousin Dionne Warwick, or friend Aretha Franklin — is bitter about Whitney maybe attaining what she never could. Cissy recalls: “She had been watching me in sessions and onstage for years, picking up pacing, breathing, and microphone techniques, and then adding her own little nuances, too. My son Michael used to joke with me about Nippy’s technique—“ Ma,” he’d say, “Nippy should be in jail for stealing all your riffs and everything. You should sue her.”
It didn’t help that Whitney let people think Aretha Franklin, for whom Cissy had worked for many years, was her godmother. “I would tease Ree about supposedly being Nippy’s godmother— a story that started years before, when I was touring with her and she came over to our house on Dodd Street. Nippy was so impressed with Aretha that she started telling all her friends she was her godmother, and the story stuck because Ree never denied it. Eventually, reporters picked it up and everybody assumed it was true. And Nippy never did stop telling people that.”
Houston moved out of the family home an into an apartment with her friend Robyn Crawford at age 18. Crawford was gay, and Cissy did not like her. “What made Nippy’s move particularly hard for me was her decision to room with Robyn Crawford in an apartment in Woodbridge, New Jersey. She knew how I felt about Robyn, but she was determined to live with her anyway. It wasn’t that there was serious tension between Robyn and me— we just didn’t see eye to eye. Still, we tried to be respectful of each other and of our places in Nippy’s life, and we figured out how to give each other the necessary space. We had our love for Nippy in common, and though we rarely agreed, we were at least able to keep things from being too uncomfortable when we were all together.”
Later Crawford moved with Whitney into her big mansion in Mendham, New Jersey. “Early on, Robyn Crawford nicknamed me “Big Cuda”— short for barracuda— and that suited me just fine. The name stuck, and from then out, whenever I’d be coming somewhere to see Nippy, people would warn each other that Big Cuda was coming.”
But it was Crawford who had the guts to tell Cissy about Whitney’s drug problems early on, long before Bobby Brown arrived on the scene. What follows is Cissy’s eye-view of the fights, interventions, and downward spiral that no one could control. At one point, Whitney rejects rehab but lets Cissy stay in her house with her. It doesn’t work, and Whitney gets worse. Bobby Brown doesn’t help, and Cissy sure doesn’t like him.
Cissy pulls no punches. And while she loves Whitney, she’s also hard on her. She calls her a “heifer,” meaning bossy like a cow. She sort of becomes afraid of her as time goes by.
People will say Cissy wrote the book for money, and maybe she did. But let her have it. This is as unflinching a memoir as you’re going to read, and well worth it. At least for once we get the true story, horrible as it is and was, by the person who knows the story. I knew all these people from the mid 1980s. I still think about walking around Whitney’s Olympic sized pool with her in the late 80s. I don’t think there was much drug use then. She was such a funny, sweet kid. And Robyn, who was tough, was so devoted to her. It seemed like their future was limitless. That it ended this badly is still unbelievable.
Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue Cover (Here): Ben, Bradley, Emma, Halle
The Vanity Fair Hollywood issue is here, always a lot of fun and most anticipated. On the cover: Ben Affleck, Emma Stone and Bradley Cooper in bed. An insert of Eddie Redmayne and of Q from “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” Inside cover has Halle Berry (great picture), an odd shot of Kerry Washington, and Olivia Wilde as Josephine Baker. Jonah Hill is photographed Hurrell-style by Bruce Weber surrounded by beauties in a convertible– he is a lucky, lucky man. There’s a portrait of Quincy Jones with his daughters including famous Rashida. VF says: “When [Bruce] Weber was staging Quincy Jones and three of his beautiful daughters—Rashida, Kidada, and Kenya—Weber asked them to come up with a song they all knew so that they could sing together. Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” from the Thriller album, which Quincy produced, was their choice.” Check it out at www.vanityfair.com. More to come…
Cissy Houston Tells The Truth, Harshly, About Whitney, Bobby, Drugs
Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Cissy Houston and her son Michael was much harsher than I expected. Cissy, never a cream puff, told the unvarnished truth to Oprah. I expect she does in her book, which is out this morning. Cissy says she did not write “Remembering Whitney” for the money, and I believe her now. She suffered through two decades of her daughter’s drug addiction, was terrified always of losing her permanently. I think the Oprah interview–and the book– represents her ability finally to speak and explain what happened.
She didn’t pull punches with Oprah. She says Bobby Brown spat on Whitney. She says she didn’t like Robyn Crawford and that she would not have approved of Whitney having a gay relationship. Cissy admits to having a strained relationship with Bobbi Kristina, didn’t seem too thrilled about her daughter in law, Pat, and says she has not spoken to Bobby Brown in the year since Whitney died. I’ve known Cissy a long time. I always respected her even if I didn’t understand what was going on with Whitney. Cissy is steely. And you know, she even tells Oprah that she didn’t like Winfrey’s interview in March 2012 with Pat, Gary and Bobbi Kristina. “It was too soon,” Cissy says. She’s right.
Whitney’s brother Michael has taken her death hard. He is now blaming himself for introducing Whitney to drugs long before Bobby Brown came along. You cannot help but feel sorry for him. Michael and his wife Donna, despite the drugs, were always there for Whitney. But it’s true, both of her brothers had drug problems. Cissy was in over her head trying to stop it, and she had no help from her ex husband John Houston.
Oprah was much better with this material than she was with Lance Armstrong. She knew what she was dealing with this time, although Cissy got the best of her. When her kids were babies, Cissy spent most of her time on the road touring with her group, The Sweet Inspirations. They were Aretha Franklin’s back up singers. The Sweet Inspirations had a couple of their own hits. But when I asked John and Cissy about it all back in 1989, it was clear they had had a tough haul. Whitney’s success bailed them out financially, but it created new problems. That was clear. Whitney, even then, was angry with her father for cheating on Cissy and then leaving. The wounds, in 1989, were very open. And this was just as Whitney was releasing her third album.
So unlike, say, Katherine Jackson, Cissy Houston seems like she’s going to give us the straight story, like it or not. More on the book later today. And one PS: Robyn Crawford was a brash young woman, that’s for sure. But she’s one of the best people I’ve known along the years. She was a great great friend to Whitney. She lives quietly outside the spotlight now. And she’s still mourning Whitney even though she has a happy family life.
Whitney Houston’s Brother Will OWN Up to Drug Influence Tonight with Oprah
It only took Whitney Houston’s death and Oprah and a new book to promote by Cissy Houston for a “revelation” tonight on Oprah’s OWN network. Oprah’s peeps are hyping a big “reveal” from Michael Houston. But we all know that in 2001 Michael was arrested for drug possession. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,622428,00.html.
Everyone blames Bobby Brown for Whitney’s drug problems, but they were already in her family. Michael was arrested for possession of cocaine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and being under the influence of drugs in Fort Lee, N.J.. Cops pulled over his car and found everything. Whitney’s other brother, Gary, has also had innumerable problems. Gary Houston was pulled over while driving in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1996 for possession of crack cocaine. Let’s not forget that.
It’s sad because Michael and his wife Donna, especially, are considered the “good” Houstons. But they’re being dragged out tonight to help sell Cissy’s book, “Remembering Whitney,” which hits stores tomorrow. If only somebody had ‘remembered Whitney’ maybe she’d be alive today. All the Houstons are to blame, not just Michael.
Flashback: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s 2003 Trip to Israel
With Cissy Houston’s book coming out tomorrow, I thought we’d revisit Whitney’s crazy trip to Israel in the summer of 2003.
This is what I wrote on May 28, 2003:
Whitney Houston‘s in trouble, her friends fear, and this time it’s not because of drugs.
Houston and husband Bobby Brown, along with their daughter Bobbi Kristina, have been spotted in Israel this week. They say they are there on a private visit to see a sect called the Black Hebrews, who live in the city of Dimona.
Some believe the Black Hebrews are not really Jewish. And they are not particularly welcome by Israel, which has tried at various times to expel them or limit their legal status. Some even consider them a dangerous cult, run since 1967 by a former Baptist from Chicago named Ben Ami, aka Ben Israel or Ben Carter, whose real name is Gerson Parker, a 62-year-old former metallurgist and self-appointed savior.
We’ll call him Carter for the purposes of this column.
Houston flew on a commercial jet that may have been paid for by the Black Hebrews, who have been trying to enlist her and Brown in their cause for some time.
The connection began at Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan‘s Million Man March in 1995. At that rally, Farrakhan cited Carter, who was in the audience, as his “brother.” Houston and Brown were in the same audience, and that is apparently when they met Carter and his group.
Carter at the time offered Houston and Brown a free junket to Dimona to see how the group lived. Instead, Houston’s brother, Gary, and his wife, Pat, took the freebie. According to my sources, Whitney has since been pressured to make the trip. Adding to the pressure is the fact Brown’s sister, known as Lele, is a Farrakhan supporter, who has also been lobbying the couple.
Carter’s group, The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, or Black Hebrews, operates in the U.S. in several cities including Atlanta (where Houston and Brown live), Cleveland, Charleston, Tallahassee, St. Louis, Chicago, Washington (where they operate the Prince Asiel Center), Houston and the island of St. Croix. They are said to have millions of dollars in real estate assets.
In most of these locations they function out of a restaurant chain called the Soul Vegetarian. At the Atlanta restaurant last night, I was told on the phone that I should speak to one of the “saints” who run the place. The person who answered the phone said she was a member of “the Kingdom.”
In fact, Gerson Parker, aka Ben Carter, managed to take 350 African Americans from Chicago in 1967 and bring them to Liberia. Two years later they emigrated to Israel, believing they were the “lost tribe” of Israel.
But the Black Hebrews are well known in Israel and elsewhere as black supremacists. They also believe in polygamy — marriage to many women at once — and are vegetarians. Members who do not follow their practices are punished.
Some in the group are also criminals.
In 1986, a group of Black Hebrews — led by Carter’s American disciple Warren Brown, aka Prince Asiel (“angel of healing”) — was found guilty by a federal jury in Washington, D.C., of operating an international crime ring that trafficked in millions of dollars worth of stolen airline tickets and used bogus credit cards and worthless checks to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. The convictions were overturned, and when prosecutors sought a retrial, Prince Asiel pleaded to a lesser charge.
In 1990, a U.S.-affiliated offshoot sect of Black Hebrews in Miami — led by Yahweh Ben Yahweh, aka Hulon Mitchell Jr. — was indicted for conspiring to commit murder and racketeering. Prosecutors said Yahweh directed followers to commit 14 murders, two attempted murders and the firebombing of a Delray Beach neighborhood. Several of the victims were decapitated with a machete and others had their ears cut off as proof of the slayings.
Mitchell was sentenced to 18 years in jail for racketeering. The murder charges produced a hung jury. Mitchell served 10 years and was released in 2001.
It was the aforementioned Prince Asiel who visited Whitney Houston at the Miraval Resort in Arizona a couple of years ago when she was trying to detoxify. The Prince — Warren Brown — presented her with a plan that the Black Hebrews could cure her of her addictions. Houston has admitted publicly to drug use.
What concerns Houston’s friends now is that, according to several of them, no one knew why she was going to Israel after last weekend’s Divas Duets show in Las Vegas. Employees of Houston’s company, Nippy Inc., were said to be taken by surprise when they heard on the news she was in Israel and visiting the Black Hebrews.
“Her performance on Divaswas terrible,” says one insider. “And she knows it. That may have provoked her to make the trip. Maybe she was convinced they could help her.”
Friends are worried Carter’s group will use a vulnerable Houston for their own purposes. That idea seems to have validity since Houston and Brown were photographed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon upon their arrival. Sharon, like most Israelis, shuns the Black Hebrews, considers them a cult and would never have agreed to be associated with the group.
Another question for Houston when she returns to the United States is how she will explain this new behavior. Raised a Baptist, Houston is considered a member of that church. Her mother, Cissy Houston, is a deacon at their family church in Newark, N.J.
Houston recently axed her longtime publicist, Nancy Seltzer, and her unofficial spokesperson, Houston’s sister-in-law Patricia Houston, is also in Israel.
TV’s Felicity is ALL Grown Up in New Series, “The Americans”
Remember when Keri Russell made her debut as Felicity, a conflicted young woman coming of age in New York, who everyone loved? Well she’s grown up. In the first few scenes of her new series, “The Americans,” Russell erases Felicity forever with some um, in-felicitous activities as a Russian spy that will remind you why cable is not broadcast TV and HBO isn’t the only place where you can get away from Nickelodeon.
The new series called “The Americans” is really really really not based on my favorite Henry James novel, “The Americans,” published in 1877. Oh no no. It’s an original idea about a pair of Manchurian Candidate sleeper Russian spies who are sent from Moscow in 1981 to Washington to do their dirty work. Our favorite Welshman, Matthew Rhys and Russell are the attractive, engaging couple with two pre-teens who move into a DC suburb with plans to blow everything up.
By coincidence, a hot shot FBI agent (the very engaging Noah Emmerich) and his wife buy the house next door. The agent, named Beeman, quickly becomes Gladys Kravitz to Philip and tk’s Samantha Stephens. He’s determined to prove they’re up to no good. They stay one step ahead of him. There are a few laughs, but hilarity does not ensue. This is a serious show, filmed like a movie, with some decided sex and violence. The first episode, set for this Wednesday, should hook audiences for several seasons.
Last night F/X threw a swanky and expensive premiere for all their peeps involved with “The Americans” at the DGA Theater and then the replica of the Russian Tea Room on West 57th St. Very clever– RTR because Rhys and Russell are Russian spies. There was blini and a little caviar. Also lots of famous pals to help toast the show including Taraji P. Henson, Patricia Clarkson, Amy Ryan, Adam Driver from “Girls,” Richard Kind, Katherine McPhee from “Smash,” as well as Rhys, Russell and co-star Margo Martindale. Adam Arkin, the gifted actor (“Chicago Hope”) and son of the great Alan Arkin–riding the “Argo” wave– came with his wife, as well.
“The Americans” is shot in Brooklyn, which is where everyone at the party seemed to be from. (Brooklyn is near Manhattan, if you don’t know.) Everyone from F/X was there, and there were a lot of gracious speeches from the podium prior to the screening that thanked everyone in the neighboring borough and beyond. (Oh how we longed for commentary from the Dowager Countess!) Anyway, the F/X people are very very nice.
As for the Russian Tea Room. What can I say? Closed in December 1995, the real RTR was gutted and rebuilt. Everything in it was auctioned off; the staff, including my old pal Ona D’Sousa, who ran the room with beauty and wit for almost two decades. Warner Le Roy reopened it, it closed again, and opened in this replica version in 2006.
I sat all night in Booth #1 where exactly 30 — yes, thirty– years ago I had lunch with Tony Randall and legendary press John Springer. I recalled all the amazing people who’d come to lunch — the real RTR was like a fantasy theme park for everyone in show business at lunch time. You’d hear people talk about the Four Seasons, 21, or later, Michael’s and Trattoria del’arte. Across the street was Fontana di Trevi, where famed literary agent Candida Donadio held court every day speaking Italian to the ancient waiters. I used to meet Mike Hall in the RTR, where he’d tell me about planting items in Walter Winchell’s column. The new owners have replicated the red banquettes, but the paint is too fresh and the paintings on the walls are too planned (it used to be very haphazard). There was no sign of Michael Korda or Sydney Pollack (yes they filmed “Tootsie” there), or Edgar Sherick, or Irving Mansfield and Jackie
Vanity Fair/60 Minutes Poll: 1 in 5 Americans Know Who Harvey Weinstein Is, Some Think He’s an Imaginary Rabbit
I’m impressed: one in five Americans, 21%, know who Harvey Weinstein is. That’s a lot of people who know the name of a Hollywood mogul. The Vanity Fair/60 Minutes poll is a hoot, especially because it’s ridiculous but fun. Some people thought Harvey was the imaginary rabbit from “Harvey” with Jimmy Stewart. Others thought he was Marvin Hamlisch. (Believe me, the right people know who Harvey is, kids.)
Sounds like the people who answered skewed older since many of them picked Cary Grant. Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart as their favorite actors. www.vanityfair.com According to the poll, 46% don’t like foreign films, and most people would like the number of awards on the Oscars cut down. Good news: Denzel Washington and Halle Berry each polled very high. Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, they say, are our favorite actors. But the movie they starred in. “The Bridges of Madison County,” wasn’t really a hit or very memorable.
Peter Jackson Box Office This Season: Ranges from $82K to a Billion Dollars
Peter Jackson can take pride in having the widest range of box office this season. His “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” has made just a whisker under $1 billion worldwide since December 14th. He’s busy preparing the sequels right now. On the other hand, another Jackson project, a documentary about the West Memphis Three, has made just $82,000 since its release on December 25th. Amy Berg directed “West of Memphis,” which was not nominated for an Oscar but has been included in a few other awards nominations.
I wrote about “West of Memphis” critically last year because I said it encroached on Joe Berlinger’s 15 year project spanning three films — “Paradise Lost.” The first “PL” in 1996 won a Primetime Emmy Award. The third and final installment was nominated for an Oscar last year. As Berlinger was finishing up part 3, Berg arrived in Little Rock armed with Jackson’s considerable war chest and the ability to buy up rights to the stories of subsidiary characters. Jackson had helped fund the defense team for the West Memphis Three along with several other celebrities.
So it didn’t really work out. “Paradise Lost” remains the final word on the West Memphis Three story.But a feature film directed by Atom Egoyan is coming, based on a book called “Devil’s Knot” with Reese Witherspoon. Berlinger and co-director Bruce Sinofsky play themselves in the movie. Berlinger is coming off a great success with a documentary about Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” The “Paradise Lost” trilogy is now on DVD.
Berg is now involved in a biopic of Jeff Buckley and starting “Every Secret Thing” with Diane Lane and Elizabeth Banks. “West of Memphis” will go to video and TV.
http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/10/13/damien-echols-of-west-memphis-three-to-publish-memoir
Could This Dog Have Saved Frank Ocean in Fight with Chris Brown?
R&B star Frank Ocean- nominated for Grammy Awards this year for his album “Channel Orange”–wound up in a brawl last night with Chris Brown, sometime boyfriend of Rihanna who famously beat her up in February 2009. Both sides are claiming the other started it, although Brown has the much worse reputation and not much sympathy anywhere. Ocean Tweeted this morning that he wished his Bernese mountain dog, Everest, had been with him. This is a picture of such a dog. I am really glad he doesn’t look Rihanna after her fight with Brown. Ocean says he cut his finger and now won’t be able to play with two fingers at the Grammys. He’ll probably win Album of the Year for “Channel Orange.” Once again, as in 2009, Brown will a Grammy pariah.