The estate of Whitney Houston has released a statement refuting Oprah Winfrey‘s recent comments claiming that the late singer fell off a stage while high on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
“From the 2009 interview on the Oprah Winfrey show, Whitney absolutely fell off stage, but it was during a sound check and it was due to the darkness of the area and her unfamiliarity with the stage. She was absolutely not high,” the post, shared to Houston’s official Instagram, read. “This story was picked up by several media outlets. Like many people, she faced personal battles, but it is inaccurate and unfair to attach that struggle to every performance or every chapter of her life.”
The two-time Oscar nominee shared the story atCannes Lionson Tuesday, where she spoke about Houston’s final performance on her show.
“Whitney did what I think was her last show with us, and she had gone back on drugs. The first interview I did with her … she was clean, but the day she came to my show to perform in front of the audience, she was not, and she fell off of the stage,” Winfrey said. “I knew that if that story got out that she’d fallen off the stage, she would be destroyed by that, and so even though the audience was there and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life, and they did not.”
The Grammy winner’s estate also addressed the audience being present for her fall. “What the studio audience witnessed on stage was the result of discipline, talent, and commitment not the assumptions others project. Whitney’s humanity included triumphs and struggles, but on that day, she showed up as the professional and gifted artist she always worked to be. We owe her the dignity of telling the truth not repeating myths,” the statement concluded.
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to a rep for Winfrey, but did not hear back by the time of publication.