Whitney Houston, renowned as one of the greatest singers ever, had two crucial relationships that defined her life. In the public eye, there was the passionate yet tumultuous marriage with Bobby Brown, while behind closed doors, her closest confidante Robyn Crawford faced a heart-wrenching choice driven by love and a desire to protect Whitney. Robyn, who had been by Whitney's side since their teenage years, now shares their complex relationship, offering a new perspective on the real Whitney Houston.
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00:00 When people think of Whitney Houston's tragic death,
00:02 they turn to Bobby Brown.
00:04 You were the one that led Whitney to heavy drugs.
00:08 It wasn't me.
00:09 But there's one person who's been ignored.
00:12 Robin Crawford was by Whitney's side from the beginning.
00:15 Robin, she's been my friend for years.
00:17 Had I been there, she'd still be here.
00:19 If she could have saved Whitney, why
00:22 was she erased from her life?
00:23 Rumors swirled they were also secretly lovers.
00:26 We were intimate on all levels.
00:29 Everyone saw Robin as a threat.
00:31 She was an opportunist.
00:32 It was evil.
00:33 It was wicked.
00:33 Reports that Whitney's father put a hit on Robin Crawford.
00:36 Everything spiraled out of control.
00:38 She just disappeared.
00:40 But now she's ready to come forward and reveal
00:43 what really happened.
00:44 This is the story that no one else knows except you.
00:48 We're just two young women from East Orange, New Jersey.
00:52 And one of them had this amazing dream.
00:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:58 I am not self-destructive.
01:03 I'm not a person who wants to die.
01:05 I'm a person who has life and wants to live.
01:08 This was a young woman who knew what she wanted,
01:13 where she was going to go, how she was going to get there.
01:17 Like, she knew everything.
01:21 It was a lot coming at her.
01:24 And she could handle it.
01:25 She knew she needed someone there.
01:29 And she chose me.
01:30 She was number one.
01:38 And I was in the number two spot.
01:40 I was her go-to for everything.
01:43 She's been my friend for years.
01:45 I don't know, just stuck it out.
01:48 I wanted Whitney to have the life
01:52 that she wanted for herself, her own family.
01:56 So then will you tell me about Bobby?
01:58 Bobby was ready for the same things I was ready for.
02:08 I had heard the rumors about him.
02:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:15 And they said I was crazy, huh?
02:18 Bobby Brown's wild reputation falls in wherever he goes,
02:21 indulging in alcohol, drugs, and countless women.
02:25 I'm not as bad as everybody thinks I am.
02:28 Bobby Brown had multiple arrests,
02:30 ranging from marijuana possession to drunk driving
02:33 and various parole violations.
02:35 But Whitney stood by her man.
02:37 In order to deal with a person like me,
02:39 she has to be the sweetest person in the world.
02:42 Bobby is the man of my life.
02:44 And I'm very much in love and I'm very happy.
02:46 And also the meanest person in the world.
02:48 I'm the madman.
02:49 What are you saying?
02:50 All right.
02:51 All right.
02:51 All right.
02:52 Boom.
02:52 She told me that he had asked her to marry him.
02:57 And then she asked me.
02:59 And I was not ready for this question.
03:02 Do you think he loves me?
03:06 He was the kind of guy that loved attention.
03:11 And Whitney was the kind of woman who did not.
03:15 They were like apples and oranges.
03:21 To the outside world, Bobby and Whitney seemed madly in love.
03:25 But when they came back from their honeymoon,
03:27 Robin noticed a cut on Whitney's face.
03:30 She said, I threw a glass against the wall
03:33 and it shattered and I got cut.
03:37 But the cut was like from here to there.
03:40 It was about three, four inches long.
03:43 Flying glass doesn't do that.
03:46 I never pressed her.
03:47 I was like, you love this man.
03:49 And it's not right to stand by someone
03:54 and then think ill of it.
03:56 That wasn't me.
03:57 If that's what she wanted, I would be there for her.
04:00 Robin tried to respect Whitney's choice.
04:03 But Bobby didn't make it easy.
04:05 Bobby Brown and Robin Crawford, they hated each other.
04:08 They would battle for her affection.
04:10 They'd battle for her attention.
04:12 There were numerous fights between them, serious fights.
04:15 Did you guys ever have a physical altercation?
04:17 He did get in my face a couple of times.
04:19 There were times when he wasn't always the winner.
04:22 He wanted Whitney to remove Robin from their relationship
04:26 and Whitney didn't want to do it.
04:29 What is the issue with her being around?
04:31 Not too long ago, I was in Detroit.
04:38 I did a radio show.
04:39 For over an hour, about 30 calls came in.
04:41 They really just wanted to know, well,
04:42 what is the story of Whitney?
04:44 Is she gay or is she not?
04:46 Whitney is not gay.
04:48 That is a story on that.
04:50 The only gayness I feel is when I'm happy, honey.
04:51 That's it.
04:53 That's all that really matters.
04:54 That's all that matters, yes.
04:57 This wasn't her world.
04:58 I mean, I brought her into this madness.
05:00 She goes, why am I the target?
05:02 What did I do?
05:04 Said, you're my friend.
05:05 What else do you want?
05:07 You play basketball.
05:08 Because she plays basketball, people think she's a lesbian.
05:11 I don't know.
05:12 They just think we're just--
05:13 I'm not gay and I'm not lesbian.
05:14 I'm a mother.
05:15 I'm a wife.
05:16 I'm a daughter.
05:17 Lesbian, gay, I'm not.
05:18 Two titles I can't claim.
05:20 I'm sorry.
05:21 As the media ran wild with speculation,
05:24 Bobby tightened his grip on Whitney.
05:26 I needed for Robin to understand
05:28 that I was now Whitney's husband.
05:29 So their relationship had to change.
05:32 But it wasn't just Bobby who had a problem with Robin.
05:36 Robin was a nobody.
05:37 She was a nobody.
05:38 She was an opportunist.
05:40 She was a wannabe.
05:41 I've never seen her do anything, but I
05:43 knew that she was something that I didn't want my sister
05:45 to be involved with.
05:47 And it was evil.
05:48 It was wicked.
05:49 And I tried to tell her sister to leave her alone.
05:52 I didn't particularly like her.
05:54 What didn't you like?
05:55 She just spoke too much, you know, disrespectful sometimes.
05:59 Like she had something over Nippy, you know, like that.
06:01 Would it have bothered you if your daughter Whitney was gay?
06:08 Absolutely.
06:09 It would have bothered you?
06:11 You would not have liked that?
06:15 Not at all.
06:16 Not at all.
06:17 No one in this organization wanted anything
06:21 to disrupt this bullet train that was Whitney Houston.
06:26 Anyone who had influence was a threat.
06:30 Did John ever try and get rid of Robin?
06:32 He talked about it.
06:34 If he could, he would break them up any way he can.
06:37 He wanted somebody to scare her.
06:39 Scare her?
06:40 Scare her how?
06:41 So a former security guard came forward,
06:44 and he claimed that Whitney's dad and former manager
06:48 approached him, offered him $6,000
06:51 to break Robin's arms and legs because he didn't
06:54 like her for being a lesbian.
06:55 And he was worried that she was threatening
06:58 her marriage to Bobby Brown.
07:00 He quoted John as telling him, he
07:02 should lay my legs on the curb and break them with a bat.
07:06 I don't want her murdered.
07:07 That would devastate Whitney.
07:09 Whitney confided her dad, but he denied everything.
07:12 But decades later, one of Whitney's brothers
07:14 actually came forward and said that they
07:16 did want to scare Robin, but he never actually admitted how.
07:20 The threat of bodily harm didn't slow me down.
07:24 But I wonder if it ever crossed their minds
07:27 that it was hurting Nippy, their sister, their daughter.
07:31 Once Nip had spoken to her father,
07:34 I felt better because at least I knew where she stood.
07:40 Robin thought Whitney was on her side.
07:42 Until she found out Whitney had told Bobby their secret.
07:46 She didn't tell me that she had shared it with him.
07:52 But from what I understand, he was not happy about it.
07:57 I don't know why he was so disappointed about it.
08:00 It was years ago, decades ago.
08:04 What was the secret?
08:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:11 I was 16, and we were working at summer jobs.
08:21 I remember thinking, wow, this is really
08:23 going to be a trip this summer.
08:24 I don't have any friends.
08:26 And then here comes Robin with this beautiful, beautiful afro.
08:30 She was tall and very statuesque.
08:32 She simply stopped me in my tracks.
08:34 Before I moved on, I gave her one last look
08:37 and told her I'd keep an eye out for her.
08:39 I remember thinking, I've known this person,
08:42 seems like all my life.
08:43 I wanted her friendship.
08:45 That was what was most important.
08:47 But over that summer, their friendship
08:49 grew into something more.
08:51 One day after camp, we were just talking.
08:54 There was something there that made us connect.
08:58 And then that one moment, we both just met.
09:02 And our mouths touched, and that was our first kiss.
09:07 We didn't share what happened with anyone.
09:09 I didn't know how long it was going to last,
09:12 but I knew we were meant to be.
09:14 Robin and Whitney moved into an apartment together,
09:16 hiding in plain sight.
09:18 But Robin could see something was holding Whitney back.
09:22 When you're raised in church and you're raised in a background
09:25 of God-fearing religion, there's a certain boundary
09:29 that you don't cross.
09:30 You know what I'm saying?
09:32 I could have gotten into a lot more trouble than I got into
09:34 if I hadn't thought about, oh, my mother's going to kill me,
09:37 or my father and my mother are going to be so disappointed.
09:41 After two years together, Whitney
09:42 was ready to share her true feelings with Robin.
09:46 She said, I have something for you.
09:48 And she placed the Bible in my hands.
09:51 She said, I don't believe that we
09:54 should be physical any longer, that it would make our journey
09:59 much harder if they found out about it.
10:01 But she also said, living that kind of life,
10:05 you could go to hell.
10:06 You know what we shared, Whitney added.
10:08 You know how I feel about you, and we will always have that.
10:12 Robin knew that their relationship
10:14 was deeper than just romance, but it
10:17 wasn't always easy for her.
10:20 Whitney had prepared a one-on-one dinner
10:22 with Eddie Murphy.
10:23 I hung around long enough to see Whitney through the glass,
10:26 and she looked amazing.
10:29 She was ready, preparing for Eddie to come.
10:32 I thought to myself, wow, I wish she was preparing
10:36 that second place for me.
10:39 But I knew that wouldn't happen.
10:41 Robin couldn't tell Whitney how she really felt.
10:45 But as she tried to move on, Whitney
10:47 struggled to let her go.
10:49 She asked me to love her.
10:51 If you love me, love me unconditionally.
10:54 And she was worth it.
10:55 So I strived for that.
10:58 Robin vowed to support Whitney no matter what.
11:03 But after Whitney married Bobby, she struggled to protect her.
11:06 I noticed that Nip started using drugs a lot more
11:12 when Bobby was around.
11:14 She wasn't putting on the brakes.
11:16 I reminded her that drugs should be over now, and she said,
11:19 I know, but I'm not ready to just yet.
11:22 The more I saw and heard, and the messier it got,
11:27 Whitney went to surprise Bobby in Atlanta.
11:30 After knocking on his door several times,
11:33 out comes Bobby in a rage, saying,
11:36 I don't want you here.
11:38 And he spit in her face.
11:40 She ran down the hall, and Bobby picked up a glass
11:43 and threw it.
11:44 And Whitney picked up the phone to call her father.
11:48 That's when Bobby snatched the phone from her
11:50 and hit her over the head with it.
11:53 He had her to himself.
11:54 She was isolated.
11:56 I thought she'd get tired of it.
11:58 I mean, Whitney had a lot of pride and a strong will.
12:02 But every time I thought that would be it, it wasn't.
12:05 We went out to Los Angeles.
12:13 It was cancellation after cancellation.
12:16 And Bobby was traveling with us, which never makes it easy.
12:20 I went to Fred Segal, and I purchased George Michael
12:24 a button-down black shirt since we had run him around
12:29 for a while.
12:29 We had canceled three sessions with him, just a kind gesture.
12:33 And Bobby erupted.
12:35 Are you [BLEEP] out of your mind, he started yelling.
12:39 You don't buy a man a gift from my wife.
12:42 Are you crazy?
12:43 Then Whitney joined in, saying, apology for what?
12:46 I understood exactly why I was getting blasted.
12:49 They were strung out and out of their minds.
12:52 There was nothing that I could do to make things any better.
12:55 And for the first time, I realized
12:57 that I needed to save myself.
12:59 With Bobby screaming in my face and all that stress and worry
13:03 about Whitney, I was at a breaking point.
13:07 It wasn't just Bobby.
13:09 It was everything.
13:10 Locking eyes with Whitney, I said my piece.
13:13 You know, I'm really sick and tired of this shit.
13:16 I'm trying to do my job, and you're
13:19 going to let him speak to me this way?
13:21 I'm done, then.
13:22 I quit.
13:23 After 20 years of being by Whitney's side,
13:26 Robin walked away from the person she loved most.
13:30 I will always say that was the downfall of Whitney.
13:34 Robin was the person who was keeping her together.
13:37 And I think that's why the drug container
13:39 was so important to her.
13:40 That was the crutch that she used to get through that.
13:43 Robin tried to move on with her life,
13:45 but she couldn't escape the media going after Whitney.
13:49 The headlines were saying Whitney is dying.
13:52 No, Whitney was dead.
13:53 I'm 757 and thin.
13:55 But that's not just thin.
13:58 No, it isn't.
14:00 Diane, tell me.
14:02 Do you know?
14:03 It's scary thin.
14:04 Anorexia?
14:06 No way.
14:07 Bulimia?
14:08 No way.
14:09 That it's because of drugs?
14:12 No.
14:15 Mm-mm.
14:17 Is it alcohol?
14:19 Is it marijuana?
14:21 Is it cocaine?
14:22 Is it pills?
14:24 It has been.
14:26 At times?
14:27 All?
14:29 At times.
14:31 If you had to name the devil?
14:34 That would be me.
14:34 Police are looking to speak to Bobbi Brown
14:39 after a weekend altercation left wife Whitney Houston
14:42 with a cut lip and bruises on her face.
14:44 It appears Whitney Houston's greatest love of all
14:47 is in Bobbi Brown.
14:48 After a rocky 14-year marriage, the two
14:50 are on the path to divorce.
14:53 When did you know that that marriage was not going to work?
14:56 I just knew.
14:57 I just-- you know, I was like, you don't smell right.
14:59 You don't look right.
15:00 Something's going on.
15:01 And then all this other stuff started coming out,
15:05 being too promiscuous.
15:06 So the fact that he would be out with other women
15:08 and would bring that into your--
15:09 Yeah, with my credit card, absolutely.
15:11 I had a problem with that.
15:13 Whitney Houston has returned from her drama-filled seven
15:16 year hiatus from the music industry
15:19 with the release of a new album.
15:21 Well, Whitney Houston's comeback tour
15:23 has hit yet another snag as hundreds of fans
15:25 walked out of a recent show in Denmark.
15:27 We're leaving early.
15:28 She couldn't entertain a dead rat, to be honest.
15:31 Denmark!
15:34 One wrote, she looked and sounded
15:36 like a person who doesn't have many years left to live.
15:39 Whitney Houston has enrolled in an outpatient rehabilitation
15:42 program to deal with drug and alcohol issues.
15:45 The singer is voluntarily seeking additional treatment
15:48 after 30 days in rehab.
15:50 As one source puts it, she really wants it this time.
15:54 But on February 11, 2012, while out to dinner,
15:59 Robyn got news that would change her life forever.
16:03 My phone started to ring and said it was an old friend.
16:06 So I told Lisa I'd call her back.
16:08 Two seconds later, it rang again.
16:11 Another friend called.
16:13 Then our friend's phone started to ring.
16:15 As soon as she hung up the phone,
16:17 we were all looking at her, wondering
16:19 what had just happened.
16:21 She said, my sister is a huge Whitney Houston fan,
16:25 and they're saying she passed.
16:28 I felt my inside shatter.
16:30 I never once believed that she would fall.
16:39 Swimming is what she loved to do.
16:41 [LAUGHTER]
16:42 A girl could swim.
16:44 She loved the water.
16:47 And that's why passing in the water
16:48 just is so hard for me to wrap my heart and head around.
16:55 I wish I would have just taken the necessary steps
16:59 to reach her.
17:00 I feel like I was waiting for her,
17:03 and she was waiting for me.
17:05 And time just don't wait.
17:08 As Robyn tried to deal with her grief,
17:11 the world demanded answers.
17:12 We're learning more tonight about the dark and final days
17:21 of legendary superstar Whitney Houston, her ex-husband Bobby
17:24 Brown revealing new and intimate details of the couple's
17:27 turbulent marriage.
17:28 People said to me, the one thing that they heard over and over
17:32 again, that you were the one that led
17:36 Whitney to heavy drug use.
17:39 You were the one.
17:41 It wasn't me that started her.
17:46 I take my part, but we all have our own minds.
17:50 The last few years of our marriage, it was terrible.
17:52 They had tried on and off to get sober,
17:55 but Bobby Brown says Whitney just wouldn't stop using.
17:58 That's what ultimately led to the end
18:00 of their 14 years of marriage.
18:02 She just wasn't ready to go that direction.
18:04 But their relationship struggles weren't
18:06 the only thing Bobby revealed.
18:09 Bobby Brown's surprising allegations
18:11 about Whitney Houston's sexuality.
18:14 I think their relationship had become sexual at some point.
18:18 They couldn't be as close as they were before,
18:21 because Whitney now had me in her life, her husband.
18:24 But Robyn wasn't accepting this new development gracefully.
18:28 She was not happy about being pushed away.
18:31 Robyn watched silently as Bobby told Whitney's secrets
18:35 to the world.
18:37 I had great comfort in my silence.
18:41 But over the years, I began to feel my silence shake.
18:46 And everything I heard or read, it wasn't accurate.
18:52 I was bothered by all the bad news I was hearing.
18:55 I knew Nip didn't deserve it.
18:56 And I wanted to do something to help her.
18:59 And that's when I felt the need to stand up,
19:03 you know, to stand up for my friend's legacy, to lift it.
19:07 After years of speculation and rumors,
19:09 Robyn Crawford finally breaks her silence
19:12 on her relationship with Whitney Houston.
19:14 The late singer's close friend has released a memoir
19:17 titled "A Song for You, My Life with Whitney Houston."
19:20 Instead of focusing on who was to blame,
19:27 Robyn reminded everyone that Whitney was so much
19:30 more than her tragic ending.
19:33 You don't get to that pinnacle stumbling.
19:37 You have to be focused.
19:38 You have to put in the time to hone your craft.
19:42 You have to be gracious and respectful.
19:46 And she was all those things.
19:49 Soon, the world started seeing Robyn's real impact on Whitney.
19:54 Strangers walking up to me, feeling like, had I been there,
19:58 she'd still be here.
20:00 And someone unexpected came forward to honor her.
20:04 I think if Robyn could have been accepted in Whitney's life
20:08 and remained close to her, Whitney
20:10 would still be alive today.
20:12 To this day, Robyn continues to proudly share Whitney's story
20:15 with the world.
20:17 Ours is a story of loyalty and trust
20:20 of two women who made a pact to protect and rely on each other.
20:24 I owe it to my friend to share her story, my story,
20:28 our story.
20:29 And I hope that in doing so, I can set us both free.
20:34 What would you want to say to her?
20:36 I would want to say, you know, Nip, you know I love you.
20:40 And I got you.
20:41 I will represent.
20:44 I love that girl like yesterday.
20:49 And she's with me all the time.
20:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:55 (music fades)
20:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]