Whitney Houston’s Former Agent: I was sick of having her being a tabloid sensation. 

Whitney Houston circa 2011

Whitney Houston’s Former Agent: I was sick of having her be a tabloid sensation. 

Whitney Houston’s longtime former talent agent Nicole Jaffe David revealed for the first time her thoughts on what it was like to be Whitney’s agent. David, is a former actress, who later became a talent agent for many actors and music artists including John Travolta and Lauryn Hill. 

David was Whitney’s talent agent from 1986 through 2012 when Whitney Houston passed away. Filmmaker Kevin MacDonald created the “Whitney” documentary that screened Friday night for the first time on the West Coast.

Having had close ties with Houston for many years, David helped executive produce the documentary in an effort to delve deeper into her personal life than what the public already knew. MacDonald interviewed Whitney’s family members and through many interviews, he was able to reveal that she was the victim of sexual abuse from a female family member. MacDonald was also able to reveal that Houston had a longtime lesbian relationship with her best friend as well as addressed her tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown.

In a new interview, David revealed the kind of connection she had with legendary singer.

I was Whitney’s agent but I loved Whitney. If I represent someone, I have to love them to do a good job. That’s why I was an agent. I was sick of having her be a tabloid sensation and always looking like this beautiful girl with a great voice that God gave everything to [who] just messed it all up and became a junkie. I thought that story was not true, and I knew there was a lot more.

Continuing,

I always knew that there was a pain in Whitney that I could not identify, which is part of the reason I worked with her. I saw fragility. I feel I know many more facts now. Whitney’s soul I always knew. You know, some people you can look at for 20 years and they never let you see them, but she couldn’t help it. I saw her and I loved her. This gave me more facts, but it does not change how much I love her.

When asked about Kanye West purchasing the image of Houston’s drug and alcohol infested bathroom and using it as the album cover for Pusha T’s “Daytona” album, she said,

It was tacky and thoughtless. With Kanye, I didn’t judge it too much. He is where he is in life, and he doesn’t need me to judge him because everybody is judging him, and I don’t know his story any more than people knew Whitney’s story.

As previously reported in May, West purchased the infamous bathroom picture. The vintage picture stems from 2006 and was taken during the height of Houston’s drug addiction. West offered to pay $85,000 to license the picture so that it was able to be used for Pusha T’s album.

With the “Whitney” documentary, both MacDonald and David say they hope that Houston’s legacy and struggles help to show a different and profound side of her that the tabloids failed to acknowledge.

By: Jeanine Cruz