"Whitney" Doc Explores Turbulent Lives Of The Icon & Her Daughter

The new documentary Whitney addresses the turbulent lives of both Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, shedding new light on the trauma that preceded the iconic mother and daughter’s tragic demise.

The film, executive produced by family member Pat Houston, debuted at Cannes Film Festival last Wednesday (May 16).

The most explosive allegation presented in the film has been that the legendary singer was sexually abused by her cousin as a child—a possible “missing link” in Houston’s “painfully complex life.”

Whitney also explores the early life of Bobbi Kristina, who had a “front-row seat to her parents’ chaotic marriage and struggle with drug abuse,” according to People.

“She hated her life” and had a history of self-harm, said Pat Houston. Another family member said, “They didn’t take care of Krissy. They just left her to the wolves.”

Whitney Houston died on Feb. 11, 2012 at the age of 48. Her cause of death was determined to be the result of “drowning” and the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use,” according to the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.

Bobbi Kristina died on July 26, 2015 at the age of 22, from pneumonia caused by a mix of alcohol, morphine, and other drug use, and being found face-down in the bath in her home.

Bobbi Kristina, the daughter of Houston and Bobby Brown of New Edition, was in a medically-induced coma after she was found unresponsive in the bathtub in January 2015.

By April, her grandmother Cissy Houston shared that she was suffering “global and irreversible brain damage.” She passed away that June.

Pat Houston said at the time, “She is finally at peace in the arms of God.”

Her father, Bobby Brown, is now sober and busy being a husband and father to his children from his second marriage.

He said in a November 2016 interview on Dr. Oz that he finally had a wake-up call after being jailed for a drunk driving incident. “Jail got me to stop taking drugs. I never wanted to go back to jail. I didn’t want to be incarcerated ever, ever again,” he said.

He looked back on the family he lost. “We should have been better. We could have been better,” he said.