The trials and tribulations of Whitney Houston’s life are making headlines once again following the release of the highly-anticipated new movie, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The Sony Pictures-distributed musical drama, which hit theaters on Friday, touches on the highs and lows of Whitney’s music career, as well as her secret relationship with former assistant Robyn Crawford.
Clive Davis, who signed Whitney at 19 years old in 1983, is one of the executive producers of the film, who recently sat down for an interview with Extra to explain why it was important to include her romance with Robyn in the motion picture. “They did have a teenage, one-year affair,” the record label executive started off saying.
RELATED: Nafessa Williams On Embodying The Role Of Robyn Crawford And Honoring The Iconic Whitney Houston
“There have been so many articles that have…attempted to trace her addiction to being a frustrated lesbian or never dated a man before Bobby, all of which was totally inaccurate.” Clive added that he knew of several men Whitney dated before she got with Bobby as he further attempted to dispel long-standing rumors that the “Shoop” singer felt trapped in her own sexuality.
Robyn confirmed that she did, in fact, share a romantic relationship with Whitney in her 2019 memoir, “A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston.” Rumors that they had dated had surfaced long before the book came out, but it was the first time that Robyn had actually spoken out and admitted to what was once regarded as gossip.
“Believe me, I’ve done my best to stay out of the spotlight [but] I believe it is my duty to honor my friend and to clarify the many inaccuracies about myself and about who Whitney was,” Robyn writes in her book.
“It wasn’t all about our sleeping together. We could trust each other with our secrets, our feelings, and who we were. We were friends, we were lovers. We were everything to each other. We weren’t falling in love. We just were. We had each other. We were one: that’s how it felt.”
Whitney Houston and Robyn Crawford deserved their fairytale love story 🥺🥺💞😔 pic.twitter.com/BcAKpSJ87y
— pretty black cute (@afrorckprincess) August 24, 2021
The romance between the two ended after Whitney signed a record deal because she feared the public scrutiny that would come if people were to become aware of the pair’s relationship. Even at that time, though, Robyn described how Whitney had already been dealing with substance abuse which continued to worsen.
“No matter what rules we came up with around responsible drug use, she kept breaking them and using whenever she wanted to,” she added.