Oprah Winfrey opened up about a heart-wrenching moment when she “begged” the audience not to share photos of Whitney Houston falling off the stage during her 2009 show.
During a conversation at Cannes Lions on Tuesday, June 23, Winfrey reflected on that unforgettable day, highlighting that the legendary singer “had gone back on drugs” when she graced Winfrey’s stage. “The day she came to my show to perform in front of the audience, she was not [clean], and she fell off of the stage,” Oprah recalled. “I knew that, if that story got out that she had fallen off of the stage, that she would be destroyed by that. And so even though the audience was there, and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life, and they did not.”
She pointed to this “amazing” moment as a testament to the “trust” she had from her audience, although she noted, “That would not happen today.”
Houston made her final appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2009, where she sat down for an in-depth conversation with Winfrey. After an emotional interview, Houston performed for the studio audience, and the two shared a warm hug on stage, reflecting on the “powerful connection” they had during their earlier taped interview.
Tragically, Houston, who battled substance abuse throughout her life, was found dead in a hotel bathtub in February 2012 at the age of 48. The medical examiner ruled her death a result of drowning combined with a toxic cocktail of drugs.