Cinnamon234 said:

AlexdeParis said:

I want to thank Cissy Houston and family for letting me experience that beautiful homegoing service. It definitely lifted my spirits and gave me a sense of closure. [Edited 2/18/12 13:31pm]

They did a beautiful job. It truly was a lovely and touching service.

It was indeed.

missfee said:

Timmy84 said:

That's just low and despicable to do that to someone's ex husband and the father of their child. I don't care what went on, Bobby and Whitney had profound love for each other but drugs and their egos played a cause in its downfall. Bobby still didn't cause Whitney to fall off. If her family did this - I can see Dionne doing this instead of Cissy for some reason - they need to be ashamed of themselves. I didn't wanna say anything when CNN and TMZ was trying to be pro-Whitney and anti-Bobby just to spite him. So I'm glad Bobby released his statement. But of course someone always gotta be pegged the "bad guy". They shouldn't have been worried about Bobby, they should've been worried about "Mr. Let's Carry On The Show While My Former Client's Dead Body Is Upstairs" Clive Davis. But I guess they were because no one, from what I read on here, clapped for his old wrinkled, soul-sucking ass.

Somebody authorized security to do that mess...wonder who. You think Dionne? I don't know enough about her to say otherwise. But SOMEBODY authorized it.

As far as Clive goes, there were claps but very few. I was surprised that he had enough balls to talk (about their BUSINESS relationship) for as long as he did.

Something about Dionne is sneaky. Plus she always hated Bobby. I don't think Cissy would do that, but I don't know. It's just assumptions.

Chancellor said:

As for Aretha....I'm not gonna hold her cancellation against her...But Cissy asked her in advance to sing and Aretha KNEW she wouldnt be able to do 2-shows @ Radio City and drive to NJ...

I'm sorry but her priority as a Family friend should have been to make it to the service. People have talked about how Aretha is FAMOUS for canceling shows. One would think she would have done this one last thing for Cissy and re-scheduled her concert @ Radio City...

Wow Aretha......You made a bad Call on this one...

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

Cinnamon234 said:

Chancellor said:

As for Aretha....I'm not gonna hold her cancellation against her...But Cissy asked her in advance to sing and Aretha KNEW she wouldnt be able to do 2-shows @ Radio City and drive to NJ...

I'm sorry but her priority as a Family friend should have been to make it to the service. People have talked about how Aretha is FAMOUS for canceling shows. One would think she would have done this one last thing for Cissy and re-scheduled her concert @ Radio City...

Wow Aretha......You made a bad Call on this one...

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

Exactly.

Cinnamon234 said:

Chancellor said:

As for Aretha....I'm not gonna hold her cancellation against her...But Cissy asked her in advance to sing and Aretha KNEW she wouldnt be able to do 2-shows @ Radio City and drive to NJ...

I'm sorry but her priority as a Family friend should have been to make it to the service. People have talked about how Aretha is FAMOUS for canceling shows. One would think she would have done this one last thing for Cissy and re-scheduled her concert @ Radio City...

Wow Aretha......You made a bad Call on this one...

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

I don't know. Something about Aretha... I don't think Aretha and Whitney's family was as close as they lead on. Dionne keeps talking about Aretha as a sister but I never known of Cissy to bring her up. Someone said that she and Cissy had beef and it wouldn't surprise me if Aretha was jealous of her goddaughter's success.

kevin costner had the best speech.

I was starting to get a little unnerved when it started turning into The Winans Family concert though. They sing good but near the end it appeared that they were showboating...maybe not so much the family as a whole, but I feel that Marvin was.

Timmy84 said:

debbiedean2 said:

They just showed his statement on CNN and it wasn't an entourage, it was his kids that he had with him and security asked him to move 3x! And to top it off when Bobbi Kristina came in security blocked him to speak to her so he decided to leave and I would have done the same.

That's just low and despicable to do that to someone's ex husband and the father of their child. I don't care what went on, Bobby and Whitney had profound love for each other but drugs and their egos played a cause in its downfall. Bobby still didn't cause Whitney to fall off. If her family did this - I can see Dionne doing this instead of Cissy for some reason - they need to be ashamed of themselves. I didn't wanna say anything when CNN and TMZ was trying to be pro-Whitney and anti-Bobby just to spite him. So I'm glad Bobby released his statement. But of course someone always gotta be pegged the "bad guy". They shouldn't have been worried about Bobby, they should've been worried about "Mr. Let's Carry On The Show While My Former Client's Dead Body Is Upstairs" Clive Davis. But I guess they were because no one, from what I read on here, clapped for his old wrinkled, soul-sucking ass.

That just goes to show you that the entertainment business don't give a rats ass about you! They should have made his sorry ass move 3x

Cinnamon234 said:

Chancellor said:

As for Aretha....I'm not gonna hold her cancellation against her...But Cissy asked her in advance to sing and Aretha KNEW she wouldnt be able to do 2-shows @ Radio City and drive to NJ...

I'm sorry but her priority as a Family friend should have been to make it to the service. People have talked about how Aretha is FAMOUS for canceling shows. One would think she would have done this one last thing for Cissy and re-scheduled her concert @ Radio City...

Wow Aretha......You made a bad Call on this one...

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

Maybe Aretha was too upset people grieve different. But I'm not going to go into it because everybody has their own feelings on that but clearly they had no clue she wasn't there.

Timmy84 said:

Cinnamon234 said:

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

I don't know. Something about Aretha... I don't think Aretha and Whitney's family was as close as they lead on. Dionne keeps talking about Aretha as a sister but I never known of Cissy to bring her up. Someone said that she and Cissy had beef and it wouldn't surprise me if Aretha was jealous of her goddaughter's success.

Damn, you think so?

Timmy84 said:

babynoz said:

I think the confusion was because they were only expecting Bobby to bring 2 people instead of nine and they were trying to accomodate more people than they expected, so it sounds like some kind of misunderstanding.

It probably was, who knows? I don't know about "only bringing two people". No one, it seemed like, really told Bobby how many people he should bring so that added to the confusion. Least he kissed his wife's casket and left in peace.

I can't remember which news reported it but it was said that the invitation was for himself and two people.

There are conflicting reports that he was not asked to leave but told that everybody he brought with him could not sit in the family section.

Guess we will never know what really happened but maybe if it had been just him and the 2 kids it would have been okay.

babybugz said:

Cinnamon234 said:

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

Maybe Aretha was too upset people grieve different. But I'm not going to go into it because everybody has their own feelings on that but clearly they had no clue she wasn't there.

When I initially read on why Aretha didn't wanna attend, I was kinda surprised. But who really knows why she decided to cancel.

missfee said:

I was starting to get a little unnerved when it started turning into The Winans Family concert though. They sing good but near the end it appeared that they were showboating...maybe not so much the family as a whole, but I feel that Marvin was.

I was waiting for them to get off..half of the stuff he was preaching about had nothing to do with whitney.

missfee said:

Timmy84 said:

I don't know. Something about Aretha... I don't think Aretha and Whitney's family was as close as they lead on. Dionne keeps talking about Aretha as a sister but I never known of Cissy to bring her up. Someone said that she and Cissy had beef and it wouldn't surprise me if Aretha was jealous of her goddaughter's success.

Damn, you think so?

Yeah. I don't know. I kept reading some shit about Aretha and Cissy not getting along sometimes. Of course Cissy is not one to tell her business (and we know how private Aretha is). But if it was because she had health troubles, then maybe that explains it. I don't know. I still see it as weird.

babybugz said:

missfee said:

I was starting to get a little unnerved when it started turning into The Winans Family concert though. They sing good but near the end it appeared that they were showboating...maybe not so much the family as a whole, but I feel that Marvin was.

I was waiting for them to get off..half of the stuff he was preaching about had nothing to do with whitney.

Oh good, so I wasn't the only one who noticed that.

babynoz said:

Timmy84 said:

It probably was, who knows? I don't know about "only bringing two people". No one, it seemed like, really told Bobby how many people he should bring so that added to the confusion. Least he kissed his wife's casket and left in peace.

I can't remember which news reported it but it was said that the invitation was for himself and two people.

There are conflicting reports that he was not asked to leave but told that everybody he brought with him could not sit in the family section.

Guess we will never know what really happened but maybe if it had been just him and the 2 kids it would have been okay.

Yeah but it seems like they told him out of the blue. To me if I was going to someone's funeral, least call me to let me know how many people I can bring along. It seemed like they told Bobby when he got there.

http://www.huffingtonpost...86431.html

Aretha Franklin On Missing Whitney Houston's Funeral: Singer Says Her Health Is To Blame

02/18/12 11:56 AM ET Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. — Aretha Franklin says she can't attend Whitney Houston's funeral because of her health.

Franklin had been expected to sing at the service Saturday in Newark, N.J. She tells The Associated Press she has been having foot and leg problems. She gave a concert Friday and says her legs locked up late into the night.

She says she sends best wishes to Houston's relatives. Franklin is close with the family. Houston lovingly called her "Aunt Ree."

Houston, who was 48, died Feb. 11 in California, the day before the Grammy awards. About 1,500 guests are expected to attend the private service.

(i feel Aretha would have been there if possible. remember she's not too long out of life-threatening hospitalization-plus she's 69, and will be 70 on march 25th. she's got to be very careful healthwise. )

[Edited 2/18/12 13:57pm]

ScarletScandal said:

Cream suit and Melon dress lawd....

Wasn't that RICH?

"...am I not your sister? Well ain'tchu broke ? well I'm rich, so "

even better, his description of Whitney coming down the funeral isle for his brother waving her arms,

" Fam-lay, fam-lay... !!!"

Timmy84 said:

missfee said:

Damn, you think so?

Yeah. I don't know. I kept reading some shit about Aretha and Cissy not getting along sometimes. Of course Cissy is not one to tell her business (and we know how private Aretha is). But if it was because she had health troubles, then maybe that explains it. I don't know. I still see it as weird.

But you know what is even more weird? When I first heard this morning the reports about Aretha not performing and not being there at all I was puzzled because last night she was interviewing with Al Roker on NBC about Whitney and looked fine to me. Unless this interview took place before her concert or whatever. But even what she was saying was pretty vague as far as her relationship goes with Whitney. Like she said that she found out about Whitney's passing the same as the rest of the world basically and that she jumped up once she saw it across the screen. But NEVER did she say that she picked up the phone to call Cissy. If they were so close, wouldn't this had been the normal reaction...to call Cissy and find out first if it was true and if so what happened?

free2bfreeda said:

http://www.huffingtonpost...86431.html

Aretha Franklin On Missing Whitney Houston's Funeral: Singer Says Her Health Is To Blame

02/18/12 11:56 AM ET Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. — Aretha Franklin says she can't attend Whitney Houston's funeral because of her health.

Franklin had been expected to sing at the service Saturday in Newark, N.J. She tells The Associated Press she has been having foot and leg problems. She gave a concert Friday and says her legs locked up late into the night.

She says she sends best wishes to Houston's relatives. Franklin is close with the family. Houston lovingly called her "Aunt Ree."

Houston, who was 48, died Feb. 11 in California, the day before the Grammy awards. About 1,500 guests are expected to attend the private service.

(i feel Aretha would have been there if possible. remember she's not too long out of life-threatening hospitalization)

missfee said:

Cinnamon234 said:

They did a beautiful job. It truly was a lovely and touching service.

It was indeed.

Overall it was a very fitting homegoing service for Whitney and very well done.

I could've done without Clive and Alicia though. It would have been nice to see the kids from the school she supported instead.

Timmy84 said:

Cinnamon234 said:

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

I don't know. Something about Aretha... I don't think Aretha and Whitney's family was as close as they lead on. Dionne keeps talking about Aretha as a sister but I never known of Cissy to bring her up. Someone said that she and Cissy had beef and it wouldn't surprise me if Aretha was jealous of her goddaughter's success.

Honestly, it wouldn't surpise me. I think Aretha is very sensitive about her status in the music industry and perhaps may have felt threatened at all of the praise for Whitney's voice especially. I've noticed that when Aretha spoke about Whitney in recent interview, she was VERY careful with her words in regards to Whitney's talent. I've seen her state several times that Whitney knew how to be a real "star" but never really talked about or brought up Whitney's singing talent.

All i've heard her say is that Whitney "could sing" but she seemed reserved or hesitant to praise Whitney's talent beyond that.

I don't know. It could be in my head, but this is the feeling that I get. I don't think jealousy is the reason she canceled though. As you said, who know's why? But I really wished she could have been there.

babynoz said:

missfee said:

Well because he's a Reverend. It's customary for Reverends to sit in the pulpit. No matter what the rest of us think about him, since he's there, he was invited, so there he is in front.

[Edited 2/18/12 9:58am]

Yep.

Some people just don't know, but then like to judge.

missfee said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah. I don't know. I kept reading some shit about Aretha and Cissy not getting along sometimes. Of course Cissy is not one to tell her business (and we know how private Aretha is). But if it was because she had health troubles, then maybe that explains it. I don't know. I still see it as weird.

But you know what is even more weird? When I first heard this morning the reports about Aretha not performing and not being there at all I was puzzled because last night she was interviewing with Al Roker on NBC about Whitney and looked fine to me. Unless this interview took place before her concert or whatever. But even what she was saying was pretty vague as far as her relationship goes with Whitney. Like she said that she found out about Whitney's passing the same as the rest of the world basically and that she jumped up once she saw it across the screen. But NEVER did she say that she picked up the phone to call Cissy. If they were so close, wouldn't this had been the normal reaction...to call Cissy and find out first if it was true and if so what happened?

My point exactly. Like I said maybe Aretha and Whitney loved each other but I don't think she and Cissy did. Remember Cissy had to deal with Aretha when she was singing with the Sweet Inspirations and they were her background singers. But from Aretha's statement, I don't know if she was really sick (because she did perform the previous night) or if it was a schedule problem. Something's up.

Timmy84 said:

babynoz said:

I can't remember which news reported it but it was said that the invitation was for himself and two people.

There are conflicting reports that he was not asked to leave but told that everybody he brought with him could not sit in the family section.

Guess we will never know what really happened but maybe if it had been just him and the 2 kids it would have been okay.

Yeah but it seems like they told him out of the blue. To me if I was going to someone's funeral, least call me to let me know how many people I can bring along. It seemed like they told Bobby when he got there.

They just don't like him and the media ganging up on him too. You don't have to like him but still he should be allowed to attend. And I agree they should have said something to him before but they also are not fond of him in general. I always saw their relationship two-sided I never put blame on one person in that relationship.

babybugz said:

Cinnamon234 said:

I read Aretha had muscle spasms or something? I don't know what the deal is, but it doesn't sound like a good enough excuse to miss Whitney's funeral. I know it's not good to judge, but I feel that Aretha could have at least made more of an effort to show up for Whitney's funeral. I don't care if she didn't perform, but she should have showed up.

Maybe Aretha was too upset people grieve different. But I'm not going to go into it because everybody has their own feelings on that but clearly they had no clue she wasn't there.

That was the odd part...they didn't know she wasn't there.

I don't think we can say what happened at this point...Aretha's pretty old and not in the best of health.

missfee said:

babynoz said:

I appreciated Tyler's words very much.

I did too. Usually I find the guy annoying, but today, he's just been awesome.

One thing that cannot ever be taken from Tyler is that he knows that Word.

Ah okay, Pastor Winans is damn cool, i understand they are known people by gospel community, not only in NJ? Who was the other guy, who said he used to be like a brother to her, the one who played with his tie through his speech, who also told the story about being broke? Was this from the Winans too?

Any ideas why the church pastor (the other to the left= looked damn boring, i thought he was gonna fall asleep! And I really wondered who the other ones were (left and right to the Rev), his family? Just trying to understand the set up!

R. Kelly and Kevin were there cause of their religious ties...

babynoz said:

OzlemUcucu said:

Kim? Isn't this the same lady that Whitney sang a song together on stage 2 days before she died?

The Winans family was not the pastor in the end, was it?

Why did the other pastor not finish this, if he was the pastor of the church? Sorry, I'm just trying to make sense of this gospel black church ceremony.

The Winans are family friends of the Houstons and Pastor Winans was invited to preach the sermon.

He spoke as an invited guest speaker.

missfee said:

Cinnamon234 said:

They did a beautiful job. It truly was a lovely and touching service.

It was indeed.

Yes, I think Whitney would have been proud.

Did anyone else catch Ray J at the end touching Whitney's casket and then breaking down shortly after? He was really close to Whitney and was really going through it. He made me cry even more.

I'm gonna miss that lady.

Cinnamon234 said:

Timmy84 said:

I don't know. Something about Aretha... I don't think Aretha and Whitney's family was as close as they lead on. Dionne keeps talking about Aretha as a sister but I never known of Cissy to bring her up. Someone said that she and Cissy had beef and it wouldn't surprise me if Aretha was jealous of her goddaughter's success.

Honestly, it wouldn't surpise me. I think Aretha is very sensitive about her status in the music industry and perhaps may have felt threatened at all of the praise for Whitney's voice especially. I've noticed that when Aretha spoke about Whitney in recent interview, she was VERY careful with her words in regards to Whitney's talent. I've seen her state several times that Whitney knew how to be a real "star" but never really talked about or brought up Whitney's singing talent.

All i've heard her say is that Whitney "could sing" but she seemed reserved or hesitant to praise Whitney's talent beyond that.

I don't know. It could be in my head, but this is the feeling that I get. I don't think jealousy is the reason she canceled though. As you said, who know's why? But I really wished she could have been there.

Yeah I don't think it's jealousy that prevented her from attending. She and Luther had beef but she still paid her respects. That kinda tells me she IS ill...just maybe. But then she also has concerts planned so I don't know. But Aretha, I don't know, she hasn't looked real well to me either. Again I don't wanna speculate but it just seems odd.