Bobby Brown Opens Up About Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina in ’20/20′ Interview
Bobby Brown has experienced a tremendous amount of pain in his life, particular in the past four years. The R&B singer has endured the 2012 death of his former wife, superstar Whitney Houston; and the death of their only child, his daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, in 2015. In an interview with 20/20, Brown opened up to Robin Roberts about dealing with such loss.
The full 20/20 interview is due to air July 7, and Brown is clear that he blames Bobbi Kristina's death--and to a certain extent, Whitney's--on Nick Gordon. Gordon was rumored to be Houston's "adopted son," and came under criticism after Houston's death when he and Bobbi Kristina announced that they were engaged. There are no documents that prove they were ever married. Amidst claims of abuse and rampant drug use, Gordon has drawn scrutiny ever since Bobbi Kristina was found unresponsive in a bathtub in January 2015. She remained in a coma until her death on July 26; and last month, Brown joined a wrongful death lawsuit against Gordon.
"It's not a mystery to me. The same thing that happened to my daughter is what happened to Whitney. There's only one person who was around both occasions. Only one person who says they were there to protect them … and he didn’t.”
"He knows what happened. I don't know what happened that night. But he does."
“The last thing I told her, I just said, ‘Let go.’ I said, ‘It’s OK, you can go with your mom, daddy’ll be all right. I love you. You can rest now,’” Brown said. "The hardest thing I've had to do in my life was tell my daughter to let go. I don’t wish that on my worst enemy or any enemy. That is the worst pain in the world.”
Brown also addressed criticism he received after he'd announced that Bobbi Kristina was "awake" during a Texas concert in April 2015.
“She was definitely following me when I walked around the room, when I talked to her, when her siblings talk to her,” Brown told Roberts. “She was definitely following us.”
“It was reassuring,” he added. “For me, at that time, it reassured me that she knew and she was in a hospital and something had happened. She wasn’t able to tell me what happened, but she definitely was awake and aware.”
Brown's new book, Every Little Step, details both his tumultuous personal life and his career; from his early days as the boisterous member of New Edition, to his rise as a solo superstar and well-documented history of drug abuse and arrests. It's set to hit shelves June 13.