It's from Roger Friedman so I don't know but there were a few things I wondered about...Bobbi Kristina, Cherelle...


Whitney: She’s Broke, And On The Run
Thursday, March 30, 2006
By Roger Friedman

Troubled pop superstar Whitney Houston — once a bigger seller than Madonna — is running out of cash. Insiders tell me she is literally broke, with no current income and huge expenses. Not only that: Whitney’s life is such a dismal mess that, according to sources, her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, is living with Whitney’s brother Gary and sister-in-law, Pat, close to Houston’s home in Atlanta.

And it just keeps getting worse: A local Atlanta lawyer told me yesterday that he recently had housemates Whitney and ‘80s pop star Cherelle (real name Cheryl Week Norton) evicted from the luxury townhouse he’d rented to the latter last fall. Houston’s name was not on the lease, but the landlord says she was living there and has witnesses to back him up.

Now the landlord says he’s about to sue both women for about $17,000 in back rent and about $8,000 in damages for the mess they left behind. That includes carpets and furniture ruined by burn marks and broken windows. The papers will be filed shortly, he tells me.

When the landlord went to speak to Houston about the noise and filth emanating from the townhouse, he told me the singer appeared “disheveled” and her voice was gravelly. On the plus side: “She was very pleasant.”

Houston still owns a beautiful home in suburban Atlanta, but moved in with Cherelle at least temporarily for an extended party last fall. Houston and Norton, according to my sources, abandoned the befouled townhouse and moved to the Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead. She has since returned to her Alpharetta home, where husband Bobby Brown has also alighted after having last been seen partying in Los Angeles. There, Brown told friends alternately that Houston was pregnant and that they were divorcing.

Sometimes -- let’s face it -- we have fun tweaking the stars. But that’s not the case with Whitney Houston. I’ve known her well since 1989. She was once a beautiful girl with the greatest voice in the world and an unlimited future. What’s happened to her in the last few years is the worst kind of show business tragedy. Friends of hers tell me they fear for her life. This is a monumental disaster for which no one wants to take responsibility.

It doesn’t help that this week Whitney was sold out by her sister-in- law, Tina Brown (not to be confused with the real Tina Brown, thanks). Tina’s brother is Houston’s often-arrested and imprisoned former pop star husband Bobby. Tina sold the most salacious stories she could muster to "The National Enquirer" and the "UK Sun" tabloid, along with pictures that suggest a horrifying saga of Whitney’s drug abuse. Her take could be as high as $200,000. There has been some suggestion that Brown, needing cash, put her up to it.

Ironies abound: First, Whitney entered rehab one year ago. Obviously, it didn’t work. And second, sources say that Whitney took care of Tina Brown’s children, said to be six in total, while she was in rehab herself. Even at her worst, Houston, friends say, has tried to keep her husband’s relatives happy.

“There are 30 members of the Brown family,” says an insider, “and they’ve all sponged off of Whitney.”

That’s the problem. Generous to a fault, Houston has now managed to spend most of her earnings taking care of her own family and Brown’s. She has two main assets: a five-acre estate in posh Mendham, N.J., assessed in 2005, according to public records at $5.6 million. In 2003, she also purchased a large home in Alpharetta, Ga., a for $1.8 million, almost all of which was borrowed.

“There’s no money,” says an insider. “She’s really broke.”

The Mendham property has become to Houston what Neverland is to Michael Jackson: a bank account against which she can draw loans. Unlike Jackson, however, Houston does not have investments like the Beatles catalog to fall back on now that she’s in trouble.

Public records show Whitney has borrowed millions of dollars and taken out many staggering mortgages in her time — enough to give Michael Jackson a run for his money.

The original Mendham home, records show, was bought in 1987 for $2.2 million; Houston borrowed $1.4 million to pay for it. In 1998, as part of a refinancing plan, she took a $6.45 million mortgage that involved buying a second home in Mendham around the corner from the first. It also appears that she bought a condominium in North Bergen, N.J., simultaneously with a $3.4 million mortgage.

In May 2003, Houston obtained a $2 million, 15-year mortgage against the Mendham house. At the same time, records show she also took out a second equity loan against the same property for $500,000. Three months later, there’s a new $700,000 mortgage for a different property.

Houston’s financial problems are simple, and they were easy to predict. She is a singer, not a songwriter. Unlike Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Madonna, Houston does not write her own material. Or, to be more exact, she never attached her name to her hits and took a cut of the publishing. She has only five song credits on ASCAP’s Web site.

This is rare among modern singers: Almost all of them including Barbra Streisand, were smart enough to write some hits of their own. And if they didn’t, like Bette Midler and Cher, they made their stage show a central source of income. One reason Mariah Carey has not had to tour extensively is that she has her name on dozens of hits.

It’s kind of surprising that Houston fell into this trap. She’s watched both her mother, Cissy Houston, and cousin, Dionne Warwick, neither of whom wrote their own hits, tour endlessly every year and work to keep up with their expenses. You’d think she would have learned something from their experiences.

What’s evident is that through the years, Houston has had inadequate advice and counsel. Depending on just record sales to get her through bad times was a mistake. While Houston had many bestsellers, they are well in the past. Simply singing a hit record is not enough if you’re not going to save your money. The real profit in the music business comes from touring and publishing. Houston has toured very little in her career. And with no songs on her resume, she has no perennial moneymakers on which to rely, like Carey’s “Vision of Love” or Madonna’s “Like A Virgin.”

So Whitney, with dozens of dependents and no income, is indeed broke. News reports claimed she got a $100 million recording contract from Arista Records in 2001. In reality, she received a $20 million advance. Take half off from taxes, it’s $10 million. Another $2 million might come off in fees. Then deduct the costs of her 2002 flop album, “Just Whitney” — which sold just 540,000 copies — and her 2004 Christmas album, now ranked on amazon.com at 68,000. Suddenly, it’s not so much.

And that doesn’t take into account her notorious lifestyle. And I’m not talking about the first class airfare, the nice cars, clothes or jewelry. Houston has frittered away millions of dollars living on the edge and being irresponsible. Had she not entered into a spiraling down world of drug addiction, and kept recording and touring, she would be —at age 42 — a very wealthy woman with a reputation as the best singer of her generation. That none of that has come to pass is shameful.

Houston’s next big problem is going to be with Child Protective Services in Alpharetta, Ga. Even though Bobbi Kristina lives away from home, there will no doubt be a new investigation based on the "Enquirer" story. If 50 percent of the report is deemed true, Houston and Brown could easily lose their daughter for good. One wonders if that will be enough of a wake up call for the singer who once represented the best of America’s youth.

She moved in with Cherelle for an "extended party"??


what's that all about?

DavidEye said:

Exactly.

isn't it amazing that two of the biggest superstars of the 80s---Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston---have made such a mess of their careers,and are both having severe financial problems? This is surreal.If you had told me back in 1987 that their careers would reach this point,I would have said you were insane,lol.It's now very clear that some people just can't handle fame and success.They lose their minds and go broke.

Sad. Very sad.

I'm not exactly a fan of Whitney's but damn...

Whitney is CRAZY for not writing more of her own songs.That's where the real money is,along with touring.

How ironic. Roger the Dodger cites Mariah's Vision of Love as a song she can fall back on, and Madonna's Like A Virgin... which Madonna didn't write and does not own the publishing to - Michael Jackson does.

Ellie said:

Roger also said Mariah was going broke before TEOM came out.

Very sad tho'...

roundables said:

But I'm backing up David Eye on this one, the real money is in owning a percentage of your publishing, and of course, touring. The average joe schmo songwriter who writes shit songs for B or C class artists can, with just regular gigs, keep from being BROKE...work on two or three crappy songs a year with minimal airplay if any (as long as it's an artist that will sell 1-2 million worldwide), and do gigs...hell, even THAT will keep you in a waterfront flat and a Lexus that you can vcall your own...how the heck some of the biggest stars of this generation has lost all this money is astonishing to me! Who'da thought...????

Most of this story is true unfortunately. What a mess. I am not and have never been a Whitney music fan but I really dislike seeing people make "it" just to fall like this. This is NOT Hammer we are talking about. This woman has real talent. What a waste. I hope she lives to see a better day.

I've run into the "Browns" a couple of times and they spend money like it's growing on trees. I've never really seen anything like it.

All these threads lately on Whitney actually make me so sad...I remember when I was little, before she got famous in music, she was a model. I used to read all the teen fashion magazines and she (along with ONE other black girl, who later went on to do the Soap Days of Our Lives) were THE ONLY black faces I used to see in the fashion ads and editorials for the teen market. She was like a little groundbreaker, and I used to think she and that other girl were the prettiest black girls I'd ever seen...even if they were THE ONLY ones who broke into the commercial market for that time...it's really kinda sad to see all that beauty and talent gone...

Houston still owns a beautiful home in suburban Atlanta, but moved in with Cherelle at least temporarily for an extended party last fall

DavidEye said:

I wonder if Missy got invited.

This story just gets sadder and sadder. Never in a million years would I imagine Whitney Houston in this position. You would think with all the stories we've heard in the las 50 years since Rock and Roll started by the times we go to I'd say the late 80's came around, stars would now how manage their money but they keep falling into the same traps. Such a damn shame.

lilgish said:

That's whole "Extended party" bit made me go

purplecam said:

"A fool and his money shall soon part." Where is the common sense?

prettymansson said:

My sister lives in the area of Whitney's home, and has seen her occasionally at the neighborhood gas station, filling up like a normal Jane. She apparently always is extraordinarily polite and smiles at everyone, a pleasant lady...but what struck my sister is that she is nearly always dressed "casual" to the point of being totally disheveled, her wig always looks crooked and matted, the Mercedes that she takes out has been dented for the past 2 years, and the one time she saw Whitney with her daughter, that chile's hair wasn't combed, and looked like it hadn't been for a couple of days ...that is just NOT the beautiful Whitney I remember and used to be inspired by...what the hell happened???

That's true but it takes a strong minded person with a mind of their own to write songs and actually get them released. I don't know if she has written songs because I am proud to say that I don't own a single song of her's. I would assume that she hasn't though. I'm sure she's capable of it but she would probably let someone else change the songs up from the way she originally intended them. She's not a strong enough person to stick to her own guns.

DavidEye said:

It's called Mike Tyson Disease, Joe Lewis Syndrome, the Hammer Headache, the Will Smith Blues, TLC Malady, etc, etc, etc.

It goes like this...young, talented artist makes a lot of money.

Gets cheated. Knows nothing about investments. Spends money on an entourage. Sometimes gives back to the community. Surrounded by leeches. Sometimes abuses alcohol or drugs. Ends up poorer than when they started. Sometimes ends up dead.

It's really a shame. When ordinary Americans go bankrupt because they can't manage their money, that's a bitch. When Superstars lose the little money they have pried out of their record company or their agents' or their producers' or their managers' hands... it's just tragic.

This may sound like a stupid idea, but someone should start up a business counseling stars from around the way on how to manage their money. Maybe call it the L. Londell McMillan School of Keeping Yo' S**t.

Paul McCartney, who grew up poor in Liverpool, will never starve.

Alasseon said:

Alasseon said:

They all ready exist but man it's really hard to trust anyone when you have that much money involved. I've seen the best of the best ripped off from people whom seem legit. $$$ corrupts people. I tell my peeps to count their own damn money and NEVER sign a POA. NEVER!

This is just an example of bad decision making. Whitney should have known that just simply showing up to sing wouldn't cut it. In order to truly succeed in the business financially, you need to either write your own shit or have keen business sense.

Look at Madonna. She's an excellent business woman whose made some very successful choices in her career. Now she's worth at least a cool 300 million. She aint going hungry anytime soon

Ellie said:

how and when did michael end up with the rights to LAV?

cborgman said:

the song is part of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. It was purchased along with the Beatles...etc..

lilgish said:

really? it was released by warner brothers though. all of her stuff is. how did it end up at sony?

It doesn't matter who released it. The publishing is a different thing. Time/Warner administer MJ's Mijac catalogue of his own songs for example. If you look at album credits a lot of the time individual songs on the same albums are licensed by 2 or 3 different publishing companies. I think it's the songwriters that determine who or what gets those rights.

I dunno if Madonna has any hand in publishing of her material now.

Ellie said:

she has for some time... webogirl publishing

like a virgin is published by Minong publishing, though.

did a google search for minong and michael jackson, it turned up nothing.

anyone have sources on michael owning like a virgin?