Whitney Houston Didn’t Speak to Mom for Months — Grieving Lady Shed Light on Their Relationship

• Whitney Houston was a legendary singer.
• Her mother, Cissy Houston, gave her all the tools to become the superstar she was.
• However, the mother and daughter did not always see eye to eye.

Whitney Houston was a singer who needed no introduction. She was an award-winning icon with multiple top charting hits and record-breaking sales. Rolling Stone also named her the second greatest singer of all time.

Music was something Houston grew up around. Her mother, Cissy Houston, was also one of the greatest singers in the 50s. Cissy started her singing career in church, and while her dream was to continue making gospel hits, she ventured into other genres for the money.

She became a backup singer for other legendary singers like Elvis Presley, Luther Vandross, and Aretha Franklin. Cissy also became an actress and producer known for the films, "A Time to Kill," "The Preacher's Wife" and "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness."

As someone who was musically inclined, Cissy noticed her daughter's talent from a young age. She said she knew she had something special from when she was only 11. Therefore, the actress used her experience as a musician to groom Whitney into a star.

She gave her daughter the blueprint for gracefully carrying herself and controlling her voice and sent her off to an all-girls Catholic school. Even though these tools helped Whitney professionally, they caused a rift between her and her mother.

The "I Have Nothing" singer blamed her mother for the end of her parent's marriage after she reportedly had an affair with one of the ministers at their family church. This led to a messy divorce between Cissy and her husband, John Russell Houston Jr.

Despite the ups and downs that Cissy went through, she still worked hard to give her children the best childhood. The actress worked her way out of poverty through her faith and singing and bought a five-bedroom home with a pool in New Jersey.

She ensured that the home was near good private schools to enroll her children, Gary, Michael, and Whitney, whose long-time childhood nickname was "Nippy." Cissy emphasized that she tried her best to protect her children but believed that she shielded them too much from the hardships of life.

Cissy Houston Looks Back at Whitney Houston's Life

Cissy was certain she gave her children all the tools to do good because everything was fine within the corners of their homes, but things slowly changed when they were exposed to the life of show business.

Looking back at Whitney's struggles with drugs, the mother of three revealed that her daughter started self-medicating to relieve herself from the stress and pressures of her career. And when it came to her relationship with her husband, Bobby Brown, Cissy admitted that she was not impressed with who her daughter chose to marry.

Everything from Brown's lyrics, alcohol, and drug abuse to his criminal record went against her Christian beliefs. However, when Whitney's addiction got worse, Cissy remembered one of her sons, Gary, calling her concerned about the singer's health.

Gary told his mother that Whitney needed help, and Cissy staged an intervention. She showed up at her daughter's house with an injunction from the police and told her she was either going to get help or retire from her career.

When Cissy took legal action, it added more strain to their relationship. Whitney did not speak to her mother for months, but looking back at it, she realized her mother did it out of love.

Whitney opened up about this intervention during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, and later, Winfrey had an interview with Cissy, who admitted that it was difficult to watch that conversation because there were things she did not know about her daughter's life.

The "I Look to You" singer also opened up about her turbulent relationship with Brown, revealing that there were times when he would spit on her. She even described how much hate she saw in his eyes. Cissy confessed that these were details of Whitney's life that she did not know, and watching the interview made her angry.

This was only the tip of the iceberg; there were other disheartening details about her children's lives that Cissy did not know. In "Whitney," Gary opened up about some things that led to his addition. He revealed that he and Whitney were molested when they were kids.

The brother and sister were reportedly sexually assaulted by their cousin Dee Dee Warwick, the sister of Dionne Warwick and the niece of Cissy. Like Cissy, Dionne was loved for her soulful voice, which earned her a successful music career. The "I Will Always Love" singer opened up about the incident to her long-time assistant, Mary Jones.

Whitney and Gary survived painful situations while their mother's singing career had her traveling for long periods. But they reportedly never told Cissy because they knew she would have hurt someone. Jones remembered how much the secret weighed on the singer and hoped she would have the courage to open up to her mother about it.

A few months after the documentary aired, Cissy released a joint statement with Dionne addressing the molestation claims. She said the news came with a lot of "shock and horror." Cissy clarified that she, Dionne, and her son Michael knew nothing about these crimes.

They added, "Dee Dee may have had her personal challenges, but the idea that she would have molested my children is overwhelming and for us unfathomable."

In addition to dealing with the heartbreaking news, the gospel singer still remembered the call she received from Gary, who could not find the words to tell his mother that Whitney had died. Cissy was all alone when she heard the news. "I was a wreck," she expressed.

But looking back at everything that happened in Whitney's life, Cissy chose not to blame anyone. She admitted that she could not stomach the abuse that her daughter endured from her marriage with Brown, but she did not blame him for anything in Whitney's life.

Cissy explained, 'Everybody is responsible for their own actions up to a point. She was raised, she knew better, and whatever took her to that position, I really don't know."

One of Whitney's long-time dreams was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2020, she finally made it. Cissy, who is now 90 years old, was there to witness her daughter's dream come true. There is never a day that she does not miss Whitney, "I miss her so much I can't even express it," she said.