News

Whitney Houston's Longtime Friend Robyn Crawford Says They Had a Physical Relationship

By Rachel McRady‍ 7:13 AM PST, November 6, 2019

New details about the rumored relationship between the late Whitney Houston and her longtime friend, Robyn Crawford, are coming to light in Crawford's new memoir, A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston.

In excerpts from her book released by People magazine, Crawford opens up about her relationship with the late singer, saying they were romantic partners in the early '80s -- an admission she's making for the first time.

"We wanted to be together, and that meant just us," Crawford writes in the book.

She later adds that it was Houston who ended the physical part of their relationship in 1982.

"She said we shouldn't be physical anymore, because it would make our journey even more difficult," Crawford says, adding that Houston gifted her with a Bible when she told her this. "She said if people find out about us, they would use this against us, and back in the '80s that's how it felt."

Crawford adds that Houston's mother, Cissy Houston, was against their bond, claiming, "Whitney told me her mother said it wasn't natural for two women to be that close, but we were that close."

She also notes they "never talked about labels," but writes, “Whitney knows I loved her and I know she loved me. We really meant everything to each other. We vowed to stand by each other.”

Though this is Crawford's first time speaking out about the rumored romance, she's not the only person in Houston's life to comment.

Whitney's sister-in-law, Pat Houston, spoke about Crawford's upcoming memoir with ET's Kevin Frazier last month, and felt she had every right to tell her story. "She's entitled. If she wants to write a book, who knows what the book is about? It's her story," Pat said. "Is it fair to say she can't write a book? No, it isn't. She had a relationship with her, so whatever it was, you know, she's deciding to write a book. Hey, she can do that."

Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown, also claimed the singer had a same-sex relationship with Crawford in his 2016 memoir, Every Little Step: My Story.

"I really feel that if Robyn was accepted into Whitney's life, Whitney would still be alive today," he told Us Weekly at the time. "She didn't have close friends with her anymore."

In a 2013 episode of Oprah's Next Chapter, Whitney's mother Cissy said she "absolutely" would have had a problem with her daughter being gay.

The potential romance was also depicted in the 2015 Lifetime original movie Whitney. At the time, director Angela Bassett opened up about the rumors between Houston and Crawford.

"I can’t tell you," Bassett said at the time. "There always has been [rumors] and they still persist and I don’t know. But, there was always the speculation, so my thing was, let it remain. But it'd be however the audience sees it. If they read into it, that's what they read into [regarding] their life – two women who are close and love each other and support one another."

ET has reached out to reps for Cissy Houston and Bobby Brown for comment on Crawford's memoir.