Robyn Crawford, Whitney Houston’s best friend and one-time executive assistant, has confirmed her romantic relationship with the singer. Their closeness has sparked rumors about their potential romance throughout Houston’s career.
Five years after Houston’s death, Crawford is breaking the silence about her relationship with the singer in a new book, A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston, out November 12. “I’d come to the point where I felt the need to stand up for our friendship,” Crawford writes in an excerpt published by People. “And I felt an urgency to stand up and share the woman behind the incredible talent.”
Crawford said that the moment that she first saw Whitney in 1980, she told her, “I’m going to look out for you.” They first met when they were both counselors at a summer camp in East Orange, New Jersey. At that point, Crawford was 19 and Whitney was almost 17.
They stayed fast friends throughout Whitney’s career until 2000, although the singer ended the “physical part” of their relationship shortly after she signed a record deal with Clive Davis at Arista in 1983. Houston gave Crawford a bible to signal they couldn’t outwardly pursue their romance.
“She said we shouldn’t be physical anymore,” Crawford writes, “because it would make our journey even more difficult. She said if people find out about us, they would use this against us... and back in the ’80s that’s how it felt.”
“We never talked about labels, like lesbian or gay,” Crawford writes. “We just lived our lives and I hoped it could go on that way forever.” She also addresses how members of Houston’s family, including her mother gospel singer Cissy Houston, criticized their relationship: “Whitney told me her mother said it wasn’t natural for two women to be that close, but we were that close.”
In a segment with NBC News' Today/Deadline, Crawford offers more details about their early relationship. “It was during that first summer that we met, was the first time our lips touched,” Crawford tells NBC’s Craig Melvin. “It wasn’t anything planned, it just happened. And it felt wonderful. And then not long after that, we spent the night together. And that evening was the night that we touched, and it brought us closer.”
Crawford continues: “I watched [Houston] rise to the top of her game and I felt compelled to share who that woman was behind all the fame… I never envisioned speaking publicly about my life and then I asked myself the question, ‘What would Whitney want? Would she understand you know, the time is now?’” Watch a teaser of the full interview, airing November 9, below.
In 2016, Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown told UsWeekly that the singer was bisexual, claiming that she and Crawford had been involved in a hidden relationship for years. He alleged that the secrecy was because Houston was scared to face judgement from her mother and other members of her family. “I really feel that if Robyn was accepted into Whitney’s life, Whitney would still be alive today,” he told UsWeekly. “She didn’t have close friends with her any more.”
The 2017 Whitney Houston documentary Can I Be Me featured testimonies from others close to Houston, seemingly confirming Brown’s claims. According to the film, Houston moved in with Crawford at age 18, after being heartbroken from her parent’s divorce. “I don’t think she was gay, I think she was bisexual,” Houston’s longtime friend and stylist Ellin Lavar says in the documentary. “Robyn provided a safe place for her. Robyn loved her…In that, Whitney found safety and solace.”
It was publicly known that Brown and Crawford harbored tension towards each other. In 2000, Crawford resigned from her position on Houston’s team. Houston died in 2012 due to accidental drowning.
Get the best of what's queer. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
