All language subtitles for How.It.Really.Happened.S01E13_English

♪♪

You can fool people.

You can fool anybody
any time of the day,

but you can't fool yourself.

At night when you go home,
you got to be straight up

with you, and know, you know,
when the stuff is good

and when the stuff is bad,
you know, and deal with it.

♪♪

♪♪

Hey, everyone.
I'm Hill Harper.

Welcome to
"How It Really Happened."

She was America's sweetheart,
the girl next door,

and our reigning pop princess.

We called her "Whitney,"
and she was known

as "The Voice."

Whitney Houston's soaring fame
and well-publicized demons

were center stage
for the entire world to see.

Tonight, we explore
how this amazing performer

came to a heartbreaking end.

Fans were always pulling
for Whitney, and in early 2012,

it looked like
she was making a comeback --

new man, new music
and a new movie.

The film was a remake
of "Sparkle,"

and it marked a return
to her roots,

home to the church, back to
the power and promise of gospel.

Sparkle, you can have a gift.

It's how you use it.

Turner:
"Sparkle" is a cult classic,

especially in the
African-American community.

Be on the mark.

Can I get an "amen"?

Amen!
Amen!
Amen!
Amen!

Houston: Being born and raised
in the gospel community,

it was not new to me to sing
gospel or to sing with a choir.

♪ Why should shadows ♪

♪ Shadows come? ♪

It is very natural to me --

in some ways, more natural
than popular music --

because it's where I'm rooted.

It's where my foundation is.

So it wasn't a new adventure.

It was just coming back home.

[ Cheers and applause ]

I remember "Sparkle," and I
remember the great press

that came around "Sparkle."

Whitney looked great,
and they were showing clips,

and everyone was saying,
"Oh, my gosh, she's back."

Turner:
She was healthy and happy.

Was she?
We don't know.

She looked like she was trying.

She looked like she was winning
the battle at that point.

Lemon: So everyone thought
that this "Sparkle" movie

was going to be great
and that it was going to be

Whitney's comeback
and finally [Exhales sharply]

Right? She could exhale.

And then came the Grammys.

Hello.
I'm A.J. Hammer in New York,

and this is a special edition
Of "Showbiz Tonight" --

"Showbiz @ the Grammys."

Whitney
was there for Grammy week.

She had planned on making a
comeback in the music business,

but even before she boarded
the plane to Los Angeles,

she had reservations.

Mun: And people
are calling it a comeback.

Is that putting kind
of pressure on you?

Are you feeling nervous
about the whole thing?

It's not a comeback for me.
I've been here.

I've just been here.
I just took a break.

I'll be honest and say I didn't
celebrate the comeback

as maybe a lot of people did.

I felt like, "It's too soon."

I felt like, "You know what?
Whitney is not ready yet."

♪♪

Halperin: Whitney was erratic
in the hotel, to say the least.

She was found hanging out.

Several media people spotted her
at the bar, getting hammered.

Cooper: Houston was seen
skipping around a ballroom

and doing handstands
near the hotel pool.

Whitney was partying.
She was happy.

She was sober,
maybe a little tipsy

because she had
some champagne.

There were reports of her
having drugs

delivered to her in the hotel.

And then, yeah,
she went into a gift shop.

She saw a tabloid
with a headline about her.

She went ballistic.

Things are bad, and they're
worse than they appeared.

All I knew is,
whatever is going on,

it's far worse than
they're letting us know.

Halperin:
Paramedics arrived.

There was a lot of panic.

They administered CPR.

They were unable
to resuscitate her.

She was gone.

Every once in a while you have
to report something

that you thought would be the
worst thing that could happen

and it was going to happen
and now it has.

Singer Whitney Houston,

one of the greatest voices
of our generation --

CNN has gotten confirmation from
a representative -- has died.

Moret: You got the feeling
that her body simply gave out.

The real sadness is
that she died alone

and she died in pain --

not physical, perhaps,
but emotional, clearly.

♪♪

Levy:
Circumstances were...

bizarre and confusing.

We are now getting some of these
new details about the final days

and the death of pop
superstar Whitney Houston.

We don't know, really, for sure
exactly what killed her.

She was found facedown
in the bathtub --

facedown, very strange.

Baldwin:
The singer was found facedown

and was under water
for as long as an hour.

The most surprising
new information was this --

the water in the hotel bathtub

where Houston drowned
was very, very hot.

I'm talking in excess
of 93 degrees.

Halperin:
I think that's the key point,

was the water temperature
at 93 degrees.

It's highly suspicious, just
the temperature of the water.

There were two
superficial abrasions

to the left side
of her forehead.

There was a superficial
abrasion to the left side

and the bridge of her nose.

When Whitney died, right away,
there were conspiracy theories.

There was a lot of talk that
perhaps foul play was involved.

The case is still pending.

We're waiting for toxicology,

and the investigation
is ongoing.

On Saturday, the 11th,
at approximately 3:55 p.m.,

Whitney Houston
was pronounced dead

at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Velez-Mitchell:
I happened to be just 15 minutes

from the Beverly Hilton,

so I went over there

and just stood around

and started seeing people just
pull up and get out of cars.

Behind me there are fans
singing a medley

of Whitney Houston songs
in tribute to her.

♪ They can't take away
my dignity ♪

Man: Everyone!

Velez-Mitchell:
They were lighting candles

and lighting
their cigarette lighters.

It was a very emotional scene
to be there.

♪♪

It reminded me of the real
Whitney Houston.

It's almost like the postcards
or stamps on your life,

when you heard
certain Whitney songs,

and you remember
exactly where you were

and exactly
what you were doing.

I remember the first time
I heard

"The Greatest Love of All."

♪ The greatest love ♪

Turner:
I was a young girl,

and I -- this voice, and it was
just absolutely so beautiful.

♪ To achieve ♪

It was a hallmark of pop
in the '80s,

and it was a hallmark
of Whitney at the start.

You couldn't turn on any radio
station and get away from it,

and at a certain point --
for me, it was,

"I Want to Dance
with Somebody" --

you just say, like, "I give up.

This is pretty great."

♪ Oh, I want to dance
with somebody ♪

"This person can sing."

♪ I want to feel the heat
with somebody ♪

Early on, both the music
and the image are immaculate.

You know, there's a lot of
luxury, not just to the image,

but to the sound of that music,
a lot of aspiration,

despite the fact that she might
say, from time to time,

"I'm a Jersey girl."

♪♪

Halperin:
Whitney grew up in New Jersey,

and she came from a family

that was deeply embedded
in show business.

I think out of anyone,
Whitney Houston

definitely has a pedigree.

You look at her mother, Cissy.

You look at her cousin,
Dionne Warwick,

both classic, iconic voices.

Halperin:
Her mother sang in the church.

Her cousin sang in the church,

and young Whitney
was put in the church choir.

Turner: Whitney was grounded
in the church family

and in the church home,
and so that's -- that's...

who she was
and where she came from.

So when she was 11,
she got up and sang a solo,

"Just a Little Talk with Jesus,"

and people were just in awe.

♪ He'll send a light
down from Heaven ♪

♪ If you let it shine ♪

I know that what I have
has been God-given,

and I know it's a blessing.

Has your mother told you
how proud she is of you?

Oh, every day.

When I said I wanted
to be a singer

and be in the business,
she said, "Do you really?"

I said, "Yeah, I think so."

She said,
"Okay, this is it."

It almost seems predestined
that Whitney Houston

is to go into
the music business,

to become a singer,
and to become a star.

Woman: Whitney Houston,
21-year-old daughter of singer

Cissy Houston and cousin
of Dionne Warwick,

is tuning up her club act at
Sweetwater's in New York City.

Halperin: She used to perform
at the Sweetwater club,

and that's when Clive Davis
first really got

his initiation
into Whitney's voice.

Moret: Clive Davis was
a brilliant record man.

He was Mr. Music.

If he signed you --
and he signed Whitney --

you were going to be big.

You look for a great
interpreter of song,

and it's not easy
to come by.

There's only one
of a generation.

You hear all of these stories
about how he really,

really groomed her and
prepared her for the industry

and worked really closely
because he saw --

he saw the potential.

Clive Davis signs her and then
molds her into this,

you know, person, and she did
the rest with her talent.

[ Applause ]

Velez-Mitchell: Whitney
made her television debut

on "The Merv Griffin Show."

Halperin: Merv Griffin
was the most influential person

in television back
in the day, with his talk show.

He was like the Oprah Winfrey,

and when young Whitney
went on his show

and sang the song "Home,"
it just made waves.

♪ My world has gone
and changed its face ♪

♪ But I know ♪

♪ I know where I'm going ♪

What I remember very vividly

is the album cover where she has
the white one-shoulder gown on

and her hair is slicked back,

and I remember that
because she looked so glamorous.

Whitney Houston's first album
was "Whitney Houston,"

self-titled, huge smash hit,

millions and millions of copies,
wins a Grammy.

Her second album, two years
later, just called, "Whitney."

By then she just needed
one name, Whitney.

That tells you
how big she was.

Everybody loved Whitney
when she came out.

Do you remember the album cover?

It was sex appeal
but girl next door,

appealing to black, white,
and everyone in between,

and the world loved her.

Woman: Arriving straight from
her smashing debut concert

at Carnegie Hall to a party
at New York City's Palladium,

celebrating her success.

Hammer: So Whitney
is now on this wild ride,

and, of course, as she became
more and more famous,

people became more and more
interested in her personal life,

particularly her relationship
with Robyn Crawford.

Halperin: Before Whitney hit it
big, she met Robyn Crawford,

who had a very big
impact in her life.

Robyn Crawford became
her personal assistant,

and they were inseparable.

There were constant rumors,

perhaps, of them
having an affair.

We saw the allegations
on the cover

of every tabloid magazine
for a very long time.

I'm not gay,
and I'm not lesbian.

I'm a mother.
I'm a wife.

I'm a daughter.

Lesbian and gay, I am not --
two titles I can't claim.

I'm sorry.
I just can't, you know?

Who knows?

But guess what --
who really cares?

I don't really care
if Whitney Houston

was gay, straight,
bisexual, whatever.

I just cared that she could
sing her ass off.

Moret: You know, if you look
at her trajectory,

you can chart her fall directly
to her meeting

and falling in love
with Bobby Brown.

There was a toxic mix into which
Mr. Brown was not helpful.

♪♪

Whitney Houston!

[ Cheers and applause ]

Hammer: Whitney Houston was
the belle of the annual ball,

and at times, she seemed almost
overcome with her good fortune.

I don't know what to say.
Thank you.

I love you.
Thank you.

The '80s undeniably belonged
to Whitney Houston,

so imagine her shock
when she gets booed

at the 1989 Soul Train Awards.

The nominees for best R&B

urban contemporary single
by a female are...

♪ Ohhhhh, oh, oh-oh-oh ♪

..."Where Do Broken Hearts Go,"
Whitney Houston.

Velez-Mitchell:
At the 1989 Soul Train Awards,

Whitney Houston was booed

because some critics were saying

she didn't sound black enough.

She had given away her roots.

It's horrible,
and it's kind of funny.

You go,
"Are they booing me?"

[ Chuckles ]
And they say, "Yeah."

You go, "Oh, how nice."

You know, "You're not
black enough for them."

You know? I don't know.

"You're not R&B enough.

You're very pop.

The white audience have
taken you away from them."

Whalum:
To be rejected by one's family

is the ultimate rejection,

and you could say
that black people,

in a way, are her family,

and so when
they didn't receive her

and accept her gift

as belonging to this community,

we all sensed the profound hurt

that Whitney dealt with.

That wasn't the only thing
that happened to Whitney

at that awards show.

That's where she met
Bobby Brown.

♪♪

It's the 1989 Soul Train Awards,

and Bobby Brown
is very charismatic,

and Whitney Houston
notices that,

and she happens
to be sitting,

at one point, behind him
and sort of flirts with him

by punching him
in the back of the head,

you know, tapping him,
and he looks at her like,

"You better not do that again."

Now, she said that she was
intrigued by that,

a man who wasn't
impressed with her,

a man who didn't roll over

because she was
the Whitney Houston.

Moret: You know, if you look
at her trajectory,

you can chart her fall

directly to her meeting

and falling in love
with Bobby Brown.

She loved him.
She actually loved him.

What she liked about him
was he was just Bobby.

He wasn't pretentious.

She could just relax
and just be herself.

She didn't have to be a perfect,
you know, beautiful queen,

Princess Whitney with him.

Bobby Brown was the bad boy.

Their princess
was being tarnished.

Lemon:
I did not like Bobby Brown.

I liked his music, but I did not
want him for my Whitney.

When Bobby came on the scene,

I can tell you categorically

that we in the band...

were incredulous.

For us, we saw him
as a distraction.

She definitely wanted to squash
the rumors

that she was a lesbian,

and by getting married,

that would silence the people
who wanted to out her.

I had the most beautiful
wedding
that I had ever been to,

and I was married.

[ Chuckles ]
I was in it.

"And it was mine."
And it was mine!

♪♪

1992 was just a huge year
for Whitney Houston

because it's not
only the year

that she and Bobby Brown
got married,

'92 is also when
"The Bodyguard" came out.

"The Bodyguard" was probably
the height of her career,

especially with
"I Will Always Love You."

♪ And I ♪

♪ Will always ♪

♪ Love you ♪

And the scene in the end,

where they run to each other
and the airplane is going,

it's like, you know, the --

It's like "Casablanca,"
and you -- Come on.

You have to cry on that movie.

I remember the first day
of shooting, I was so nervous.

I was so nervous, you know?

And -- I have to tell you --
because Kevin was the best.

It was groundbreaking
in the sense that you had

an African-American woman
and white man.

Levy:
Why is "I Will Always Love You"

a number-one song
for 14 weeks in a row?

Because it's on the soundtrack

of a movie

about a failed romance

between a white guy

and a black woman

at a time of racial division
in the United States,

at a time when we can't
all just get along.

♪ I hope... ♪

Whalum:
When I tell people,

"I played the sax solo
on that song" --

"What song?"
"I Will Always Love You" --

and they just take
a deep breath, you know?

And so, yeah,
now it is a calling card,

and I will say this --
Whitney would always tease us.

She would say, "Okay,
use my name if it'll help,

but it ain't
going to always help."

She rose to superstardom,

and her music was heard
in every corner of this world.

Velez-Mitchell: I think
there was a lot of pressure

to be this icon and this diva

and this super human,

and...

she was just a human.

Moret: She was at her peak,
and she was about

to jump off of a precipice,

and nobody knew it.

I remember hearing
the drug rumors,

and I remember,
like everybody else,

I didn't want them to be true.

Long before Bobby Brown arrived,
Whitney had dabbled with drugs.

Her own brother, the story goes,
introduced her to drugs.

Whitney Houston's
brother Michael

admitted on "Oprah"
that he was the one

who introduced
Whitney Houston,

his sister, to cocaine
back in the '80s.

Winfrey: Did you
introduce her to drugs?

I would say...

yeah.

It's painful.

You know?
I feel responsible for what --

I let it go so far,
and it just got out of hand.

Hammer: Whitney and Bobby
getting together

wasn't entirely good
because they partied together,

and the speculation was that
they became really codependent.

I don't sit here in judgment
of Bobby Brown,

saying, "You did this
to Whitney Houston."

Whitney did to herself
what she did,

but I think the two of them
together were combustible

in a very harmful way
to both of them.

Turner:
There was a lot of whispering --

"What's wrong with Whitney?"

People around her said
she was a ticking time bomb.

Welcome back to
"How It Really Happened."

With the release of
"The Bodyguard,"

Whitney nailed the high note
of her career.

She not only had
a blockbuster movie,

grossing more than
$531 million worldwide,

the film's soundtrack
won two Grammys,

and the lead single,
"I Will Always Love You,"

became the best-selling song
by a woman in music history,

but Whitney still had
one driving

and, so far, unrealized dream,

a deep desire for a happy
marriage and motherhood.

Was this the moment in life
Whitney would have it all?

♪♪

Houston: Well, I fell in love
with a great man,

and I thought, "Mm.

I think I'll have his baby."
[ Laughs ]

Lavar:
Whitney as a mother --

that was the
number-one-thing in her life.

She loved being
Bobbi Kris' mother.

She loved that baby
with her whole heart,

and as a mother,

she wanted to protect her
and give her the best

that she could possibly do.

Houston: Somehow motherhood,
being a mother, period,

you kind of stop
living for yourself

and you start living
for your children.

You know,
everything that I do,

everything that I think,
everything that I say,

Bobbi Kristina is on my mind
when I do it.

Sylvester: Do you ever get
scared and say,

"Oh, I don't know
if I can do this.

Maybe I'll screw it up"?

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah.
Every day. [ Laughs ]

Almost every day.

Then I'll screw it up.
[ Laughs ]

I think that Whitney Houston
looked at her daughter,

as all moms do of their kids,
and say,

"That's my greatest
achievement."

And I think that
for Whitney Houston,

the ultimate failure
for her would be to know

that her daughter
would follow her footsteps.

For Bobbi Kristina to die
in virtually the same way

her mom died

was the ultimate tragedy.

♪♪

Whitney Houston.

Man: Alright, Whitney!
[ Applause ]

Thank you.
Thank you.

My favorite, favorite
Whitney Houston moment

was the American Music Awards.

I think it's 1994.

That is Whitney Houston
at her finest.

Woman: When getting ready
to come here,

did you think that
you'd be standing there

with eight of those?

Um, no, I didn't think I'd be
standing here

with eight of them,
but a few of them, I did.

[ Laughs ]

I think after she became bigger
than life,

she became,
in the same breath,

almost as Michael Jackson
and Madonna.

Then the receipts
started pouring in,

and all of a sudden, she had
unlimited access to funds.

♪♪

The drug rumors really kicked in

when the tabloids
started showing

cover stories of Whitney

out of control,
around undesirables,

and this really shocked
the world

because we had
a squeaky-clean image

of Whitney Houston
up until that point.

In terms of Whitney's drug use,
man,

I would have to say, man,
that I was a little sheltered.

You know, I think my perspective
on her was --

I was maybe in denial
for a lot of years,

and it was just so hard
for me to accept,

and yet, yeah, I knew it.

♪♪

Moret: By "The Preacher's Wife,"
by her own admission,

she was doing drugs every day.

She was already in a free fall.

Sydney:
More details are emerging

about Whitney Houston's absence
from the Oscars.

The Academy says that
the decision to drop her

from a musical segment

was reached
by the show's producers,

musical directors
Burt Bacharach and Don Was,

and Houston herself.

Lemon: A sign
of not being able to perform

is that you have been
doing something

that has kept you
from performing,

and I think that's where
the realization came.

Whitney, oh, my goodness!
Hey, girl!
Hi! How y'all doing?!

Turner:
I think we all suspected.

Nobody really wanted
to talk about it.

There was a lot of whispering --
"What's wrong with Whitney?"

When we saw that performance

for the Michael Jackson
30th anniversary performance...

...I mean...wow.

All you have to do
is look at the picture.

Whalum:
I remember seeing Whitney

on the Michael Jackson
tribute in 2001

and just going, like, "That is
just not the same person.

It's just not the same person."

When I walked in
and I saw how thin she was,

I was very, very concerned.

I was afraid for her.

And after the show,

I took her in the bathroom,
and I told her --

I was like,
"Whitney, look at you,"

and I lifted up her shirt,
and I said, "Look at you."

I said, "Whatever you're doing,

you have to stop doing it,
or you're going to die,"

and she said, "I know,"
and she just started crying.

♪♪

Chung: Trouble-laden diva
Whitney Houston

comes clean in an ABC interview,
admitting she used drugs,

but says she now has
the problem under control.

That interview
with Diane Sawyer was --

[ Exhales sharply ]

Whitney, Whitney, Whitney.

I couldn't take my eyes
off of it,

but I didn't want to watch it,
at the same time.

[ Raspily ] You could hear it
in her voice.

"I make too much money
to do crack."

First of all, let's get
one thing straight.

Crack is cheap.

I make too much money
to ever smoke crack.

Let's get that straight,
okay?

We don't do crack.

We don't do that.

Crack is wack.

Moore:
"I don't have to lie to you.

I don't do that stuff

'cause, you know,

crack -- that's wack."

Now, I'm telling you...

she's high.

♪♪

Williams:
Whitney, Whitney, Whitney.

I don't know if you ever
remember hearing

the Wendy Williams
radio interview.

Whitney let Wendy Williams
have it in a way

I have never heard
anybody on the radio.

Whitney became very irate

when people would ask her
about her drug use

because she thought

they were trying to

misdirect her talent

and take away
from her musical abilities.

Whitney Houston had
a completely alter ego

that the world didn't know about
till much later in her life.

Dr. Pinsky:
She needed to surrender.

Whitney Houston needed
to throw up her hands

and listen
to treatment professionals

and go into treatment
and stay there

and not contemplate anything
else except her recovery.

Many times she said to me,
on more than one occasion,

"You don't know what
it's like being me.

Everybody expects
so much from me."

♪♪

Hammer: Whitney Houston's
stunning admission

that she's getting treatment
for drugs and alcohol

is still sinking in.

So, Whitney went into rehab
three times,

and, each time, she didn't
stick around all that long,

instead choosing to leave
and go into outpatient therapy.

Dr. Pinsky:
She probably negotiated a way

to an outpatient program,

which, as caretakers,
we're often stuck doing

because patients aren't --

We can't hold them
against their will.

She should have been in
treatment for 6 months, period.

Lavar: I came to her house
one day to do her hair,

and...

I couldn't find her,

and I said to someone
in the house, "Where's Whitney?"

And they're like, "Oh,
she's in the pool house."

And I walk in, and I was like,
"What are you doing out here?"

She just laid her head
on my chest

and just busted out crying,
and I had no idea.

I just held her.

You perceived this torment
in her,

and I think it really
all stems back to this sense

that she wasn't good enough.

Cooper: Bobby Brown
is reportedly shopping around

a reality show where TV cameras
would keep track

of every move Brown and his
wife, Whitney Houston, make.

Producers have a working title
for the show -- "Cops."

Man: I hear there's
no holds barred here.

Is that true?

As much -- As much as we
wanted to do that yeah.

What's the biggest surprise
we might have?

That we're normal --
just normal.

Moret: There was nothing normal
about Whitney Houston

and Bobby Brown
in "Being Bobby Brown."

There was nothing normal
about her life.

Hey, baby.
I need to go back to --

I need -- I need you.
♪ Unh ♪

♪ Go, go, go, go, go, ♪

♪ Go, go to get my, my, my
glasses, glasses, glasses ♪

I'm hungry.

I'm hungry.

I need a vacation.

It just represented, you know,

like watching someone
self-destruct, you know, on TV.

It just was wrong in every way.

It was a long union, but it was
a very tumultuous one.

There was so many incidents
of drug abuse,

of erratic behavior, arrests.

Turner: When he was in jail
and getting out

and she ran to him when he was
coming out and jumped on him,

she looked disheveled.

He looked disheveled.

Bye! Excuse us.
We got to go.

It just looked like
a codependent weirdness

that was uncomfortable
for us to watch.

Like, we literally were watching
the train wreck in front of us.

So then after the
"Being Bobby Brown" thing,

she gets the divorce,
and I'm like, "Oh, my God, yes!"

Hammer: Even more shocking
celeb split news --

Whitney Houston says,
"I want a divorce."

Lemon: But now they're divorced,
and now she's going to be okay.

She can get her image
and her voice back,

and America loves
a comeback story.

Hammer: Whitney Houston --

the drug rumors,
the divorce drama,

and now word is

the singer is making a comeback.

Houston:
It's not a comeback for me.

I've been here.
I've just been here.

I just took a break, you know,
which sometimes you have to.

I was shocked at her condition,
her vocal condition.

She had no voice.

But I went there because
I was told, and it was true,

that she wanted
to make a return, a comeback,

and it was sort of a hail
Mary pass,

and then she needed
to have her voice back,

or else there was --
what else could she do?

The problem with celebrity is
that there aren't the usual

consequences to the behavior,

if they continue to go back
to their work

as the solution
to their problems.

They have people around them

for whom they're making
lots of money

that want them back at work,

and they never really get
at the core issues.

Tonight, Houston,
we have a problem.

There is big controversy over
Whitney's concert performance

on this morning's
"Good Morning America."

[Off-key]
♪ Nothing to do ♪

♪ But lift my head ♪

♪ Back up to you ♪

Lemon: So, from that horrible
"GMA" performance --

and it was horrible. I'm sorry.
She couldn't even sing --

she started touring around
the world.

Halperin: She needed
much more help than she got.

She needed better people
around her.

Moore: I remember Clive coming
to me, and he said, "Sam...

what do I do?

What can I do?"

[ Sighs ]

I said, "Clive, she needs help."

"I'll help.
I'll do everything I can."

His intentions were wonderful,
but, see,

when you got somebody that's...

higher, she's put higher

than the person
that's trying to help you,

he can't do anything

because they are going
to close him out.

Whitney's inner circle was not
any place that we ever got,

those of us
who played with her.

There was a wall that was
very meticulously built

by the folks
who really were inside,

and that was to keep
certain people out

and to keep certain people in.

Halperin:
There was financial interests

for the people around her,

and they didn't want
to rebel against her

in fear that they
might be cut out.

Many times, she said to me
on more than one occasion,

"You don't know what
it's like being me.

Having this -- I mean, I feel
I'm stressed out all the time.

Everybody expects
so much from me,

and I'm trying, but it's very,
very, very difficult."

I was not on board
for the comeback.

I felt like the forces --

and I'm not mentioning
any names --

but I felt like the forces
who were pulling for that

were pulling for that
and not pulling for Whitney.

It's getting worse.
It's a progressive disease,

and things are bad.

♪♪

Halperin:
Whitney gets to L.A.

for the Clive Davis
Grammy party,

gets there a few days before.

What the world saw
was Whitney,

who's supposed
to be rehabilitated,

launching a comeback,
relaunching her career,

at the bar,
getting completely trashed

and complaining that her drinks
are being watered down.

People were shocked.

It's getting worse.
It's a progressive disease,

and things are bad.

All I knew is,
whatever is going on,

it's far worse than
they're letting us know.

♪♪

Halperin:
Then there was the E! interview,

and this was maybe
the icing on the cake.

The door was open.
I saw Whitney walk in.

I saw her say, "Hey, Clive."

You know, she --
I mean, she was boisterous,

but she was excited
to see Clive,

and she was excited to see,
you know, Brandy and Monica.

Moret: Whitney was trying to be
playful and interrupt,

but it was doing it in a way
that made people

think she was high.

Come say hi to your Godfather.
Woman: You sure you're okay?

Hi.
Come say hi to your Goddad.

It wasn't until
I was close to her

where I could smell alcohol.
I could smell cigarettes.

But it became very clear

that, obviously, she was not
completely 100% herself.

Man: Say it, Whitney!

Woman: Whoo! Whitney!

The next night, I was going
to a party in Hollywood

for Kelly Price,

and it was a really
chaotic scene, and inside,

you could hear, you know,
the screams for Whitney,

and it's like,
"Oh, Whitney showed up?"

Ms. Whitney Houston,
ladies and gentlemen!

Halperin: She does a duet
with Kelly Price,

a couple of gospel songs,
doesn't have the chops at all,

but people are still
happy she's there.

Moret: There was a woman
who was on "The X Factor."

I think she was a singer
on "The X Factor,"

who Whitney thought was
making a move on her guy,

and she got into it with her,

and when she left
Tru Nightclub,

oh, gosh, she had
scratches on her face.

She had blood on her legs,
you know, disheveled.

Fast-forward...

goes back to her hotel room.

She's caught reading the Bible,

talking about how she needs
to be loved,

and then the next day,

seen drinking...

at the bar.

Lemon: I remember...

I was sitting
on the anchor desk,

and I finished a show,

and I walked downstairs.
I was in Atlanta.

And they said, "We need you
to go back upstairs."

And I said, "Why?"

Halperin:
And then later on, 3:30,

her personal assistant,
Mary Jones...

knocks. No --
unresponsive, no answer.

And they said, "We're getting
word that Whitney Houston died."

I said, "What?!"

Halperin:
Goes in and finds Whitney

in a hot-water bath.

The bath was very hot.

So I run --
I didn't even take the elevator.

I ran back up the two flights
of stairs.

There was a lot of panic.
They administered CPR.

Paramedics arrived.

They were unable to
resuscitate her.

It was too late.
Whitney Houston was dead.

♪♪

Announcer:
This is CNN breaking news.

You know, every once in a while
you have to report something

that you thought would be the
worst thing that could happen

and it was going to happen
and now it has.

"Whitney just died."

So I was definitely
not surprised...

but...

hurt.

The autopsy shows very clearly
hard-core drug addict.

Make no mistake about this.

This is a hard-core drug addict.

Halperin: The question
that has to be raised

is why Whitney was left alone

for such a long period.

Dr. Pinsky: We know
that she was taking alot

of cocaine, Xanax, Flexeril...

How did the drugs
appear in that room?

...medications
that don't belong together

and are highly sedating.

She may have just fallen asleep,

slipped into the tub,
and stopped breathing.

That's a possibility.

How is it possible that Whitney
was even able to do drugs

when these people were
in contact with Whitney,

coming in
and out of the room?

She also had, again,
high levels of cocaine,

but also had cocaethylene
in her system,

which is a by-product
of cocaine and alcohol.

Halperin: The police found
the mixture of drugs.

They found numerous
prescription medication.

They found the spoon
with powder on it.

Dr. Pinsky: She may have had
a cardiac rhythm disturbance

from the cocaine
and sudden death.

So we don't know, really, for
sure, exactly what killed her.

We know for sure
it's a substance death.

I really believe this young lady

wanted...

help.

She was dealing with too
much hurt and too much pain,

pain that I knew about,
pain that --

Pains that people
that loved her knew about.

Even now, I feel...

that sort of...

regret, you know?

I think each person
in a situation like that

takes it on themselves

to, like,
"What could I have done?"

I think probably nothing,

but when I heard,
I just sat there.

I said, "Well...

so we lost that battle."

♪♪

Lavar: I think that people need
to remember she's a human being.

She's a mother.
She's a daughter.

She was a wife.
She was a sister.

That's what they need to really,
really, really focus on

and not just her struggle.

Whitney's going to be remembered
as one of the greatest singers

in American musical history,

a deeply flawed person
and performer

but a deeply human one,
as well.

Whitney Houston
includes all of it,

the good and the bad.

I thought she was great,
despite all of her demons.

I love you. Thank you.

Lemon: I wish she could have
been around longer

and lasted longer.

Houston:
I'm humbled, actually,

that the industry

recognizes what you do.

It's the best feeling
in the world

to be recognized by your peers
and people that love you.

Really, it is the best feeling,

but I'm not done yet,
believe me.

How will Whitney Houston
be remembered?

Whitney's unforgettable voice

will surely be
her greatest legacy.

After her death,
9 of her 10 albums

returned to the top
of the charts,

with
"Whitney: The Greatest Hits"

peaking at number 2
on the Billboard 200

and 886,000 copies sold.

As a tribute
to Whitney Houston,

Clive Davis produced
a documentary titled

"The Soundtrack of Our Lives,"

and, finally, Whitney's estate
authorized a documentary

about the legendary singer

directed by Oscar winner
Kevin Macdonald.

Whitney, we will
always love you.

Thanks for watching.

Good night.

♪♪