Whitney Houston Was Bi, Says Bobby Brown

It's been over four years since Whitney Houston's death and while I'm certainly not over it, there's no end to the rumors surrounding the troubled diva's life. One of the longest and most stubborn rumors concerned Whitney's sexuality and, specifically, her relationship with best friend and assistant Robyn Crawford.

In his new memoir, Every Little Step, Houston's ex-husband and anthropomorphic caution sign Bobby Brown alleges that Whitney did indeed have a romance with Crawford and that she was bisexual, among "other shocking revelations."

"I know," Brown told Us Weekly, discussing Houston's relationship with Crawford. "We were married for 14 years. There are some things we talked about that were personal to us."

Whitney always denied the lesbian rumors, telling Out in a 2000 interview that if she was gay, she'd be "proud" to admit it:

"If I was gay, I would be proud to tell you, 'cause I ain't that kind of girl to say, 'Naw, that ain't me.' The thing that hurt me the most was that they tried to pin something on me that I was not. My mother raised me to never, ever be ashamed of what I am. But I'm not a lesbian, darling. I'm not [laughs]."

Related | Whitney Houston's 2000 Out Interview

Brown adds that Whitney's public denial might have been due to her family, especially her mother, OG shadester Cissy Houston, who, Brown says, didn't accept her daughter's relationship with Crawford and insisted on her being fired.

In a 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey promoting her own book about Whitney, Cissy Houston admitted she didn't like Crawford, but could not (or would not) categorize their relationship. Cissy could, however, definitively say that she would have disapproved of her daughter being a lesbian.

"I really feel that if Robyn was accepted into Whitney's life, Whitney would still be alive today," Brown said. "She didn't have close friends with her anymore."

Considering all the tragedy that has befallen the Houston family these past few years--RIP Bobbi Kris--that may be the saddest thing I've heard yet. Of course, with Bobby Brown--noted spectrophiliac-- some things he says should be taken with a grain of salt. But the thought of Whitney Houston suffering all those years in the closet adds yet another layer of complexity, and yes, tragedy, to her already profound legacy.