Long-time friend and confidant of the late Whitney Houston has finally broken her silence on her relationship with the singer.
Robyn Crawford stopped by Jada Pinkett Smith’s talk show Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch to help promote her new memoir A Song For You: My Life with Whitney Houston. For decades, many speculated about the nature of their relationship, and both Houston and Crawford had resisted sharing
any intimate details.
“I felt it was necessary to talk about the Whitney that I know who was thoughtful with her generosity,” Crawford told Pinkett Smith. “It’s my duty to do that”.
Crawford and Houston met while serving as counsellors at the same summer camp as teenagers, Crawford says the two immediately fell in love.
“Whitney and I first met at the community development center where we were summer counselors. I was 19 and she was 16 and soon to turn 17,” Robyn explained.
“One day after camp, we were just talking. There was something there that made us connect and then that one moment, we both just met and you know, our mouths touched and that was our first kiss. It was awesome”.
Though their love took them by surprise, “There was no shame”. Their relationship became intimate “on all levels”.
Crawford revealed that their relationship was physical for two years before Whitney broke things off with her by gifting her with a Bible. Whitney feared that if they were to maintain their physical intimacy, they’d be damned to Hell. Whitney also worried about the impact their relationship would have on her
career.
However, Crawford believes that Whitney’s mother, Cissy Houston, had to do with their break-up.
“Mrs. Houston knows I loved Whitney and Whitney loved me,” Crawford opines. “But I always sensed a bitterness in her mom. Her daughter was so awesome. There was so much to be joyful about. If anything, Whitney would listen to me. That would bother Mrs. Houston”.
Robyn and Whitney maintained an emotional bond even after the break-up, sending each other love letters for years. Their love even persisted after Whitney married singer Bobby Brown.
Robyn, who is now married to a talent agency executive, said she wrote her headline-making book for Whitney and still loves her. “No one ever really dies,” she said. “We keep them with us”.
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