When people think of Whitney Houston’s tragic death, they often blame Bobby Brown. “You led Whitney to heavy drug use.” “It wasn’t me,” he insists. But there’s someone who has been overlooked: Robyn Crawford, who was by Whitney’s side from the beginning. “Robyn has been my friend for years. If I had been there, she’d still be here,” Robyn says. If she could have saved Whitney, why was she pushed out of her life? Rumors swirled that they were secretly lovers. “We were intimate on all levels. Everyone saw Robyn as a threat. She was an opportunist, and it was evil, it was wicked.” Reports state that Whitney’s father put a hit on Robyn Crawford. Everything spiraled out of control. She just disappeared. But now she’s ready to come forward and reveal what really happened.
“This is the story that no one else knows except you. We were just two young women from East Orange, New Jersey, and one of us had this amazing dream. I’m not self-destructive. I’m not someone who wants to die. I’m someone who has life and wants to live. Whitney was a young woman who knew what she wanted, where she was going, and how she was going to get there. She could handle it all. She knew she needed someone there, and she chose me. She was number one, and I was in the number two spot. I was her go-to for everything. She’s been my friend for years. I stuck it out because I wanted Whitney to have the life she wanted for herself and her own family. So, tell me about Bobby. Bobby was ready for the same things I was ready for. I had heard the rumors about him, and they said I was crazy, huh.”
Bobby Brown’s wild reputation follows him wherever he goes, indulging in alcohol, drugs, and countless women. “I’m not as bad as everybody thinks I am,” he says. Bobby Brown had multiple arrests ranging from marijuana possession to drunk driving, and various parole violations. But Whitney stood by her man. “In order to deal with a person like me, she has to be the sweetest person in the world.” “Bobby is the man of my life, and I’m very much in love, and I’m very happy. And also the meanest person in the world. I’m the mad man.” “What are you saying? All right, all right, all right.”
She told me he had asked her to marry him, and then she asked me, “Do you think he loves me?” I wasn’t prepared for that. He was someone who thrived on attention, while Whitney was the complete opposite—like apples and oranges. To everyone else, Bobby and Whitney seemed completely in love. But after their honeymoon, Robyn saw a cut on Whitney’s face. Whitney said she’d thrown a glass against the wall and gotten cut when it shattered. The cut was about three or four inches long, much bigger than what you’d expect from broken glass. I didn’t push her for more details. If she loved him, I felt it wasn’t my place to criticize; I’d support her no matter what.
Robyn tried to respect Whitney’s choice, but Bobby made it hard. Bobby Brown and Robyn Crawford couldn’t stand each other and would often clash over Whitney. There were serious fights between them. When asked if there were physical altercations, Robyn mentioned Bobby had gotten in her face a few times, and there were moments when he didn’t always come out on top. Bobby wanted Whitney to cut Robyn out of her life, but Whitney wasn’t willing to do that.
When it came to Whitney’s sexuality, Robyn shared a story from a radio show she did in Detroit. The callers wanted to know if Whitney was gay. Robyn set the record straight, saying, “Whitney isn’t gay. The only ‘gayness’ I feel is when I’m happy. That’s it. And that’s what really matters. Whitney wasn’t part of this world—I brought her into it. She wondered why she was being targeted. I told her, ‘You’re my friend. What else is there? You play basketball, and people make assumptions.’ As for me, I’m not gay or lesbian. I’m a mother, a wife, a daughter. I can’t claim those labels.”
As the media went wild with speculation, Bobby tightened his grip on Whitney. “I needed Robyn to understand that I was now Whitney’s husband, so their relationship had to change.” But Bobby wasn’t the only one who had issues with Robyn. “Robyn was a nobody. Just an opportunist, a wannabe. I never saw them do anything worthwhile, but I knew she was someone I didn’t want my sister involved with. It felt wrong, like evil. I tried to tell my sister to leave her alone because I didn’t particularly like her.”
“What didn’t you like about her?”
“She talked too much. Sometimes she was disrespectful, like she had some sort of control over Nippy.”
“Would it have bothered you if Whitney was gay?”
“Absolutely. I wouldn’t have liked that at all.”
The team around Whitney was fiercely protective of her success. Anyone who had influence was considered a threat. “Did John ever try to get rid of Robyn?”
“He talked about it. He said he’d break them up any way he could, even suggested scaring her.”
“Scaring her? How?”
A former security guard later claimed that Whitney’s dad and former manager offered him $6,000 to break Robyn’s arms and legs because he didn’t like her being a lesbian and thought she was a threat to Whitney’s marriage. The guard said John suggested laying Robyn’s legs on the curb and breaking them with a bat. “I don’t want her dead. That would devastate Whitney.” Whitney confronted her father, but he denied it. Years later, one of Whitney’s brothers admitted they did want to scare Robyn, though he never explained how.
The threat of violence didn’t slow me down, but I wondered if they ever thought about how much it hurt Nippy, their sister, their daughter. After Whitney talked to her father, I felt better knowing where she stood. Robyn thought Whitney was on her side until she found out Whitney had shared their secret with Bobby. “She didn’t tell me she’d confided in him, but from what I understand, he wasn’t happy about it. I don’t know why he was so disappointed. It was a long time ago.”
“What was the secret?”
“I was 16, working summer jobs, and feeling pretty lonely. Then Robyn showed up with this gorgeous afro, tall and statuesque. She completely stopped me in my tracks. Before moving on, I gave her one last look and told her I’d keep an eye out for her. It felt like I had known her forever, and I really wanted her friendship. That was what mattered most.”
That summer, their friendship turned into something more. “One day after camp, we were just talking, and it felt like something clicked between us. Then, in that moment, we kissed for the first time. We kept it between us. I wasn’t sure how long it would last, but I felt like we were meant to be.”
Robyn and Whitney moved into an apartment together, living quietly. But Robyn could tell Whitney was holding back. “When you grow up in a religious environment, there are lines you don’t cross. I knew I could have gotten into a lot more trouble, but the thought of disappointing my parents kept me from crossing those lines.”
After two years, Whitney decided it was time to open up. “She handed me a Bible and said, ‘I think we shouldn’t be physical anymore. If anyone found out, it would make things much harder, and living this way could even send us to hell.’ She added, ‘You know what we had and how I feel about you. We’ll always have that.'”
Robyn knew their connection was deeper than just romance, but it wasn’t always easy. “Whitney had set up a private dinner with Eddie Murphy. I lingered around just long enough to see Whitney through the glass—she looked amazing, all ready for Eddie. I thought, ‘I wish she was making space for me,’ but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.”
Robyn had a hard time expressing her true feelings to Whitney, and as she tried to move on, Whitney struggled to let go. “She asked me to love her unconditionally,” Robyn said. “Since she was worth it, I tried to honor that.” Despite her commitment to supporting Whitney, things became increasingly difficult after Whitney married Bobby. “I saw Whitney using drugs more often with Bobby around. She wasn’t slowing down. I told her she should be done with drugs. She replied, ‘I know, but I’m not ready to stop yet.’ It just kept getting worse.”
When Whitney tried to surprise Bobby in Atlanta, things took a violent turn. After knocking on his door several times, Bobby answered in a rage. “I don’t want you here,” he shouted, then spat in Whitney’s face. She ran down the hall, and Bobby threw a glass. Whitney called her father, but Bobby grabbed the phone and hit her with it. Whitney was isolated and trapped. Robyn hoped Whitney’s pride and determination would eventually lead her to leave, but she was always let down.
Their trip to Los Angeles only made things worse. With Bobby traveling with them and a string of cancellations, tensions were high. Robyn had bought a black button-down shirt for George Michael as a gesture of goodwill after they had to cancel three sessions with him. Bobby blew up when he found out. “Are you out of your mind?” he yelled. “You don’t buy a man a gift from my wife. Are you crazy?” Whitney joined in, asking, “Apology for what?” Robyn understood their anger was fueled by their drug use and felt powerless to change things. It was then she realized she needed to focus on herself.
With the stress of Bobby’s outbursts and Whitney’s struggles weighing on her, Robyn reached her limit. Looking at Whitney, she said, “I’m really sick of this. I’m trying to do my job, and you’re letting him treat me like this. I’m done, Nip. I quit.” After 20 years of supporting Whitney, Robyn made the painful decision to walk away from the person she loved most.
“I always think that Whitney’s downfall started when Robyn, who was holding her together, was no longer in her life. Without Robyn, Whitney turned to drugs as a crutch to cope,” someone reflected. Despite Robyn’s efforts to move on, she couldn’t escape the media’s obsession with Whitney. Headlines kept shouting, “Whitney is dying,” but the reality was even harsher—Whitney was already gone.
In a revealing conversation about Whitney’s health:
“I’m slim, 5’7″, and thin. But this goes beyond just being thin.”
“Really? What are you saying?”
“It’s actually scary thin.”
“Is it anorexia?”
“No.”
“Bulimia?”
“No.”
“So it’s drugs?”
“Not just that.”
“Alcohol? Marijuana? Cocaine? Pills?”
“She’s struggled with all of them at different times.”
“And if you had to name the real problem?”
“That would be me.”
In recent news, the police are trying to talk to Bobby Brown after an altercation left Whitney Houston with a cut lip and bruises. After 14 troubled years, it seems Whitney and Bobby’s marriage is heading for divorce.
“When did you realize the marriage wasn’t going to work?”
“I just had a feeling. Something was off—he didn’t seem right, didn’t smell right, and then there were issues with his promiscuity.”
“So it was a problem when he brought other women into your home and used your credit card?”
“Absolutely, that was a huge issue.”
Whitney Houston is trying to make a comeback after a rough seven-year break from the music scene with a new album. However, her recent tour hit a snag when hundreds of fans walked out of a show in Denmark, unimpressed with her performance. One fan said, “She couldn’t entertain a dead rat,” while another commented, “She looked and sounded like someone who doesn’t have many years left.”
Whitney has now enrolled in an outpatient rehab program to tackle her drug and alcohol problems, seeking more treatment after a 30-day stint in rehab. As one source put it, “She’s really committed this time.”
On February 11, 2012, Robyn’s life changed forever during dinner. “My phone rang with an old friend calling, so I told Lisa I’d call back. Just seconds later, another friend’s call came through, and then our friend’s phone started ringing too. When she finally hung up, we all looked at her, puzzled. She said, ‘My sister’s a huge Whitney Houston fan, and they’re saying she’s passed away.’ I felt like my world was falling apart. I never thought Whitney would be gone. Swimming was her passion—she was amazing in the water. It’s so hard for me to grasp that she died in the water. I wish I’d done more to reach out to her. It felt like we were both waiting for each other, but time didn’t wait for us.”
As Robyn tried to cope with her grief, the world was hungry for answers. We started hearing more about Whitney Houston’s final days and her rocky marriage to Bobby Brown. Bobby shared new, personal details, including claims that he was blamed for Whitney’s drug issues. “People kept saying I led Whitney into heavy drug use. It wasn’t me who started it. I take some responsibility, but everyone makes their own choices. The last few years of our marriage were really tough. We tried to get sober, but Whitney wasn’t ready to change, which led to the end of our 14-year marriage.”
Bobby also made surprising claims about Whitney’s sexuality. “At some point, their relationship became sexual. Whitney was closer to me, her husband, and that pushed Robyn away.” Robyn wasn’t pleased with this revelation. “She wasn’t happy about being pushed aside.”
While Bobby exposed Whitney’s secrets, Robyn remained silent but grew increasingly troubled by the misinformation. “I found comfort in staying silent at first, but over time, I felt like I had to speak out. The things I was reading weren’t right. Whitney didn’t deserve all the negative press, and I wanted to stand up for her legacy.”
Robyn eventually shared her side of the story in her memoir, A Song For You: My Life with Whitney Houston. Instead of focusing on blame, she highlighted Whitney’s remarkable achievements. “You don’t reach such heights without dedication and hard work. Whitney was focused, gracious, and respectful.”
The impact of Robyn’s support became clear when people started to believe that had Robyn stayed close to Whitney, she might still be alive. An unexpected supporter even said, “If Robyn had been accepted and stayed in Whitney’s life, Whitney might still be here today.”
Today, Robyn continues to celebrate Whitney’s legacy. “Our story is one of loyalty and trust between two women who promised to protect each other. I owe it to my friend to share our story, and I hope it helps us both find peace.” When asked what she would say to Whitney, Robyn said, “I’d tell her, ‘Nip, you know I love you and I’ve got you. I’ll always be here for you. I loved that girl like no other, and she’s always with me.’”
