Whitney Houston's life story will be told in a documentary called Whitney. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, it's set to come out July 6.
The trailer for Whitney revealed that the late singer was sexually abused as a child by her cousin Dee-Dee Warwick. The latter is the late sister of Dionne Warwick, a soul icon.
Whitney premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, and it is the only documentary to have received the go signal from the singer's family. The documentary features concert clips, interviews with Houston, conversations with her closest family members and friends, and more.
Whitney Houston's Sexual Abuse
Houston's half-brother, Gary Garland-Houston, claimed in the documentary that he and his sister were sexually abused by Dee-Dee when they were just kids. His claims were supported by the singer's assistant, Mary Jones, also known as Aunt Mary.
The "I Have Nothing" singer passed away six years ago at the age of 48. She was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her hotel room.
Kevin Macdonald Talks About 'Whitney'
Deadline interviewed Macdonald about his decision to create a special tribute for the award-winning singer and her fans. He said that it was actually Simon Chinn's idea to release a documentary about Houston. After Chinn approached him with his idea, Macdonald admitted that he said he was not interested.
"But then I met with Nicole David, who's kind of co-producer on the film, who was Whitney's longtime film agent at William Morris. And she was the person who really intrigued me, and made me think, 'Oh, maybe there is a really interesting film here.' Which is kind of a mystery story, I suppose, because what Nicole said to me was, 'I knew her probably as well as anybody for 25 years," said Macdonald.
Nick Broomfield Defends His Documentary
Whitney is not actually the first documentary about the late singer. Last year, Nick Broomfield released Whitney: Can I Be Me. The film was highly criticized by the singer's family because they did not share any information with Broomfield while he was creating it.
Amid the controversy, Broomfield clarified that it was not his intention to criticize Houston. Instead, his goal was to put an end to all of the criticisms and misconceptions surrounding the singer.
"I just felt she was so condemned towards the end of her life, so under-appreciated, that it seemed a good time to look at her career again," said Broomfield.
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