Whitney Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown opened up on marriage: ‘Doomed from the start’

Today marks the 10 year anniversary since Whitney Houston sadly died aged 48. She was found unconscious in a suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2012. Medics arrived and found the singer unresponsive and she was pronounced dead shortly afterward. Houston’s cause of death was reported as drowning and the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use”.

During her illustrious career in music, Houston cemented herself as one of the most iconic pop stars in history.

Hits such as ‘I Will Always Love You’ and ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ saw her sell over 200 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history.

But behind the scenes her personal life was fraught with difficulties, as highlighted by her former husband Bobby Brown.

Houston and Brown got married in 1992, but they would divorce in 2007.

A year later, Brown released his autobiography titled ‘Bobby Brown: The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But…’

In the book, he admits his marriage was “doomed from the very beginning”.

He added: “I think we got married for all the wrong reasons. Now I realise Whitney had a different agenda than I did.

“I believe her agenda was to clean up her image, while mine was to be loved and have children. The media was accusing her of having a bisexual relationship with her assistant.

“In Whitney’s situation, the only solution was to get married and have kids. That would kill all speculation, whether it was true or not.”

He also admitted to making mistakes of his own, including infidelity.

Brown added: “Women are always throwing themselves at you.

“I’m only human, so I would make the mistake and bite the hook sometimes. I let the testosterone take over.”

READ MORE: Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ voted greatest love song

In 2009, Houston spoke to Oprah Winfrey as she prepared to make her music comeback after seven years away.

In the interview, the pop star addressed her marriage with Brown.

She said: “He was my drug. I didn’t do anything without him.

“At home, he was very much the father, he was very much the man.

“He was very much in control. I liked that. When he said something, I listened. I was very interested in having someone have that kind of control over me. It was refreshing.”

Houston said Brown was emotionally but not physically abusive during their marriage, although she recalled a time when he spat on her when he had been drinking.

She continued: “Something happens to a man when a woman has that much fame… I tried to play down all the time. I used to say ‘I’m Mrs Brown, don’t call me Houston.'”

In 2016, Brown said in an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts that he once hit his former wife.

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He said that he struck the singer during a time while he was “trying to maintain sobriety.”

However, Brown later denied that his marriage ever turned violent.

Houston called police just outside Atlanta in December 2003 to report that Brown threatened to beat her and then hit her in the face – leaving her with a bruised cheek and a cut inside her lip.

Brown dismissed the incident as just a “little spat”, adding that the two were playfully “slap boxing” before Houston took one of his jabs a “little serious.”

A judge in May 2004 ruled there was enough evidence for Brown to stand trial on misdemeanour battery charges and set a deadline about two months later for Brown to turn himself over to authorities for fingerprinting.

An Associated Press report from the time says Brown and Houston exchanged smiles during the hearing and left the courtroom arm-in-arm.

Brown turned himself in on July 11, 2004, a few hours before the court-imposed deadline, and was released after posting a $2,000 (£1469) bond.

A notice from the Fulton County solicitor general’s office said the case was dismissed in December 2005. The reason prosecutors gave was: “Unable to contact the victim.”