Roadside Attractions/Miramax
Whitney Houston‘s mother is refuting allegations that her superstar daughter and her son were molested by her niece, singer Dee Dee Warwick.
In an emotional statement to People magazine on behalf of herself and her niece Dionne Warwick — Dee Dee’s sister — Houston says she first learned of the allegations just two days before the documentary Whitney premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16.
In the film, Whitney’s longtime assistant Mary Jones revealed that the late singer informed her that her cousin Dee Dee molested her as a child. Whitney’s oldest brother, Gary, also claims that he was molested between the ages of 7 and 9.
In the statement, Cissy Houston expresses her frustration with the “invasive theme” of the biopic, saying “IF she was molested I do not believe she would have wanted it to be revealed for the first time to thousands, maybe millions of people in a film.”
Houston continues, “Dee Dee may have had her personal challenges but the idea that she would have molested my children is overwhelming and for us unfathomable.”
She adds, “We cannot reconcile the Public’s need to know about Whitney’s life as justification for invasion of her privacy or the charge against Dee Dee, a charge which neither Whitney nor Dee Dee is here to deny, refute or affirm.”
The legendary gospel singer ends her statement by saying that although the filmmakers had the “legal right to make [the film], I wonder at the moral right.”
Dee Dee Warwick died in 2008. Whitney died four years later, in 2012. An accidental drowning with cocaine use and heart disease as contributing factors were ruled as the causes of her untimely demise.
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