Music Exec Clive Davis Says Whitney Houston Made A ‘Valiant’ Effort To End Drug Addiction Before Death: She Was Showing Me What She Had Done In Rehab

Clive Davis, Whitney Houston

Music Exec Clive Davis Says Whitney Houston Made A ‘Valiant’ Effort To End Drug Addiction Before Death: She Was Showing Me What She Had Done In Rehab

Clive Davis is opening up about watching Whitney Houston battle drug addiction and her attempts to overcome her demons. 

Recently, music maven Clive Davis was candid about his feeling of disbelief behind Whitney Houston’s death in 2012. Clive Davis, who first signed the singer to a record deal when she was only 20 years old, shared: 

“I was with her 48 hours before her death.” 

As you may know, Clive Davis and Whitney Houston worked together on numerous projects throughout her career.

Davis continued: 

“It never occurred to me that she would die two days later.”

The record producer explained:

“She was showing me what she had done in rehab.” 

The 90-year-old elaborated:

“How she had given up smoking, how she had cleared her throat of nicotine. And she was wanting to start going in the studio….I never would have thought 48 hours before her death, that she would pass, that there would be that horrendous, premature end to her life.

Whitney Houston

He added:

“She was making a valiant attempt during that period to give up drugs and rehabilitate herself.”

As previously reported, The “Higher Love” singer was found unconscious on Feb. 11, 2012, underwater in the bathtub of a Beverly Hilton hotel room. Upon paramedics’ arrival, CPR was performed, however, she remained unresponsive and was ultimately pronounced dead at the age of 48. 

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office reported that her death was an accident and the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use” caused her to drown. Toxicology results also reportedly found Benadryl, Xanax, and cannabis in her system.

During his interview, Davis recalled when Houston first auditioned for him by singing the song, “The Greatest Love of All.” He shared:

“I knew at that audition that this was a once-in-a-lifetime singer.”

Whitney Houston circa 2011

Davis, who is portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the recently released Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” which he co-produced, says the film “answers all the questions that the public wants to know about Whitney.” Davis expressed:

“Whether it’s her sexuality, whether it’s how she reacted to any innuendo that she was not singing black enough, or whether it was the impact of drugs, or whether it was recording with me.”

The late singer, who married and divorced former New Edition member Bobby Brown, was criticized by the public after it was rumored that she had a relationship with assistant/friend Robyn Crawford. In 2019, Crawford wrote a book, “A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston,” in which she confirmed the alleged couple dated after meeting in their teenage years in the summer of 1980.

Davis also spoke on the rumored romance and said:

“The film is very clear that she had an affair with Robyn as a teenager, and then she, on her own said, ‘This is not for me, and that, ‘I want a home. I want a marriage. I want children. I don’t want a life-and-death struggle with my parents. It’s against my religion. I want you to be my best friend.’”

He continued:

“And those were the terms. I mean, it lists men that she had affairs with well before Bobby. She was very clearly attracted to men and was heterosexual. In her adult life, it was not an issue in her marriage. She was not frustrated sexually with Bobby. She was wildly attracted, perhaps too attracted, in a mutually self-destructive relationship, but she was not frustrated.”

Whitney Houston (circa 2008)

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