Cissy Houston: Whitney Houston’s homophobic mother

Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston, sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an interview on Oprah’s Next Chapter to discuss her memoir, Remembering Whitney. In this clip from the sit-down, Oprah reads an excerpt from the book about Whitney’s relationship with Robyn Crawford, who was rumoured to have been Whitney’s lesbian lover. Here’s what Cissy had to say when Oprah asked if she believes Robyn and Whitney were romantic:

“I don’t really know. I thought, I didn’t particularly like her. She just spoke too disrespectful sometimes, like she had something over Nippy. I didn’t like that at all. She was alright. She turned out to be alright, I guess. That was her friend.”


When Oprah asked Cissy if she would’ve accepted Whitney being gay, you can feel the chill as Cissy flat out says, “No.” The surprised look on Oprah’s face is priceless, and when she probes on, asking, “So you wouldn’t condone it?” Once again Cissy gives a cold-hearted one-word answer that starts with N and ends with O. I sympathize with Oprah because Cissy is an interviewer’s nightmare in this clip. She isn’t forthcoming, and Oprah is forced to carry the conversation and push her for details. But still, I’m disappointed Oprah didn’t ask the question that was screaming in my mind when Cissy proclaimed she wouldn’t support her daughter being gay: “Why the fuck not?!”

Check out the awkwardness for yourself:

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