The Whney Hoton bpic is a big, gay masterpiece - The Spectator World

Contents:

• WAS WHNEY HOTON GAY? EXPLORG THE LEGENDARY SGER’S SEXUALY
• INSI WHNEY HOTON’S SECRET TORMENT FOR BEG GAY, FALLG FOR A WOMAN
• WHNEY HOTON’S DARK FAY SECRET UNVERED NEW DOCUMENTARYIN KEV MACDONALD’S WHNEY, PREMIERG AT CANN WEDNDAY, HOTON’S NER CIRCLE NFIRM A CHILDHOOD TRMA HOTON SUFFERED.BY JULIE MILLERMAY 16, 2018WHNEY HOTON AT THE AMERIN CONCERT CELEBRATN ON JULY 4, 1986 JERSEY CY, NEW JERSEY.BY RON GALELLA/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEOSR-WNG FILMMAKER KEV MACDONALD (ONE DAY SEPTEMBER, THE LAST KG OF STLAND) DID NOT SET OUT TO BREAK NEWS WH WHNEY, HIS HEART-WRENCHG DOCUMENTARY ABOUT WHNEY HOTON THAT PREMIERED AT THE CANN FILM FTIVAL WEDNDAY. HE WANTED TO SCB OFF THE SAD, TABLOID NARRATIVE THAT BASED THE SGER’S REPUTATN HER FAL, DG-ADDICTED YEARS, TO SHOW HOW ONE OF THE GREATT VOL TALENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY—A SWEET GIRL OM NEWARK, NEW JERSEY—SELF-STCTED AND DIED 2012 AT THE AGE OF 48 UNR TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANC. BUT AFTER WATCHG HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF PRIVATE HOTON FOOTAGE—TAKEN AT HOME, ON TOUR, AND BACKSTAGE—MACDONALD BEGAN TO BE HNTED BY A SAD SPICN.“THERE WAS SOMETHG VERY DISTURBED ABOUT HER, BEE SHE WAS NEVER FORTABLE HER OWN SK,” MACDONALD TOLD VANY FAIR ON WEDNDAY. “SHE SEEMED KD OF ASEXUAL A STRANGE WAY. SHE WAS A BETIFUL WOMAN, BUT SHE WAS NEVER PARTICULARLY SEXY. I’VE SEEN AND DONE SOME FILMG WH PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUFFERED CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABE, AND THERE WAS JT SOMETHG ABOUT HER MANNER THAT WAS REMISCENT TO ME OF THAT SORT OF SHRKG—A LACK OF FORT HER OWN PHYSILY THAT FELT, MAYBE THAT IS WHAT WAS.” MACDONALD WASN’T POSIVE THAT HIS HUNCH WAS RIGHT—BUT “SHORTLY AFTER THKG THAT, SOMEONE DID TELL ME OFF THE RERD ABOUT BEG TOLD BY WHNEY ABOUT BEG ABED, AND BEG ONE OF THE CENTRAL REASONS BEHD HER SELF-TORTURE. IT TOOK AWHILE FOR ANYONE TO GO ON RERD ABOUT , AND EVENTUALLY THE FAY DID.”THE BOMBSHELL IS DROPPED ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF THE WAY THROUGH WHNEY—THAT BOTH HOTON AND HER HALF-BROTHER, GARY, WERE ALLEGEDLY MOLTED AS CHILDREN BY THEIR DEE DEE WARWICK, THE SISTER OF DNNE WARWICK AND THE NIECE OF HOTON’S MOTHER, CISSY HOTON, WHO DIED 2008. DEE DEE AND DNNE PERFORMED TOGETHER AS THE GOSPELAIR THE 1950S AND 1960S, SOMETIM SGG WH CISSY’S GOSPEL GROUP, THE DRKARD SGERS. DEE DEE WENT ON TO SG BACKUP FOR ARETHA FRANKL AND WILSON PICKETT, AND BE NOMATED FOR TWO GRAMMY AWARDS. CISSY ALSO SANG BACKUP FOR FRANKL, ADDN TO ELVIS PRLEY. WHEN SHE WAS ON TOUR, CISSY LEFT WHNEY, GARY, AND THEIR BROTHER MICHAEL FOR EXTEND PERDS OF TIME WH RELATIV.ASKED ABOUT WHAT LED TO HIS OWN ADDICTN ISSU THE FILM, GARY TELLS MACDONALD, “BEG A CHILD—BEG SEVEN, EIGHT, NE YEARS OLD—AND BEG MOLTED BY A FEMALE FAY MEMBER OF ME. MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE GONE A LOT, SO WE STAYED WH A LOT OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE . . . FOUR, FIVE DIFFERENT FAI WHO TOOK RE OF .”IT WASN’T UNTIL TWO WEEKS BEFORE LOCKG THE ED ON THE DOCUMENTARY THAT MACDONALD GOT ON-THE-RERD NFIRMATN THAT HOTON HAD ALSO BEEN ABED.“I FALLY MANAGED TO PERSUA MARY JON, WHO WAS WHNEY’S LONGTIME ASSISTANT AND PROBABLY KNEW HER HER LAST YEARS MORE THAN ANYBODY, TO TALK [ON-MERA],” MACDONALD SAID. “SHE TALKS ABOUT WHAT WHNEY FELT AND WHAT EFFECT HAD ON HER. SO WE CHANGED THE WHOLE CUT AT THE VERY LAST MUTE. IT WAS KD OF A TECTIVE STORY TO GET THAT PIECE OF RMATN, WHICH CHANGED HOW I FELT ABOUT WHNEY AND HOW I FELT ABOUT THE STORY.”MACDONALD RE-EDED THE ENTIRE FILM TO BUILD TO THAT REVELATN. IN JON’S EMOTNAL TERVIEW, SHE RELLS A NVERSATN SHE HAD WH THE LATE SGER, DURG WHICH JON REVEALED THAT HER SISTER HAD BEEN MOLTED AS A CHILD.“[HOTON] LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, ‘MARY, I WAS MOLTED AT A YOUNG AGE TOO. BUT WASN’T BY A MAN— WAS A WOMAN,’” RELLS JON THE FILM. “SHE HAD TEARS HER EY. SHE SAYS, ‘MOMMY DON’T KNOW THE THGS WE WENT THROUGH.’ I SAID, ‘HAVE YOU EVER TOLD YOUR MOTHER?’ SHE SAYS, ‘NO.’ I SAID, ‘WELL, MAYBE YOU NEED TO TELL HER.’ SHE SAID, ‘NO, MY MOTHER WOULD HURT SOMEBODY IF I TOLD HER WHO WAS.’ SHE JT HAD TEARS ROLLG DOWN HER FACE, AND I JT HUGGED HER. I SAID, ‘ONE DAY WHEN YOU GET THE NERVE, YOU NEED TO TELL YOUR MOTHER. IT WILL LIFT THE BURN OFF YOU.’”HOTON NEVER SPOKE PUBLICLY ABOUT THE ALLEGED ABE—BUT, AS MACDONALD UNVERS, SHE DID DROP CLU ABOUT . ASKED A PRS TERVIEW ABOUT WHAT MAK HER ANGRY, HOTON RPONDS WH SUDN, PALPABLE RAGE: “CHILD ABE MAK ME ANGRY . . . I HATE TO SEE KIDS . . . BOTHERS ME THAT CHILDREN, WHO ARE HELPLS, WHO PEND ON ADULTS FOR SECURY AND LOVE, JT BOTHERS ME. IT MAK ME ANGRY.” HOTON ALSO MA A POT TO BRG HER DGHTER, BOBBI KRISTA, ON ALL OF HER TERNATNAL TOURS, RATHER THAN LEAVE HER DGHTER AT HOME. SHE ALSO URGED JON TO BRG HER DGHTER ALONG WH THEM ON TRIPS.ASKED WHY HOTON NEVER TOLD HER MOTHER ABOUT THE ALLEGED ABE, JON SAYS, “I THK SHE WAS ASHAMED . . . SHE ED TO SAY, ‘I WONR IF I DID SOMETHG TO MAKE [DEE DEE] THK I WANTED HER.’ I SAID, ‘STOP. A PREDATOR IS A PREDATOR IS A PREDATOR.’ IF CISSY HAD KNOWN, SHE WOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHG ABOUT , BEE CISSY LOV HER CHILDREN.’”MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISMACDONALD SAID THAT CISSY HOTON HAS BEEN RMED THAT THE ACCATN IS MA THE DOCUMENTARY: “CISSY KNOWS. SHE WAS TOLD, AND VERY UPSET. I THK SHE WILL WATCH THE FILM AT SOME STAGE, BUT ’S OBVLY UP TO HER WHEN SHE WANTS TO DO THAT.”MACDONALD ALSO SAID THAT PAT HOTON—WHNEY’S FORMER SISTER--LAW, MANAGER, AND TATE EXECUTOR, WHO IS TERVIEWED THE FILM—HAS TOLD DNNE WARWICK ABOUT THE ALLEGATNS.“SHE HAS BEEN RMED. SHE HASN’T WANTED TO SEE THE FILM . . . BUT VERY MUCH MYSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE, WE ALL DON’T WANT HER TO SUFFER BY THE ACTNS OF HER FAY. ANY NEGATIVE FEELGS TOWARD HER WOULD BE PLETELY WRONG. SHE HAD NOTHG TO DO WH . SHE KNEW NOTHG ABOUT . WE FELY DON’T WANT ANY REPERCSNS FOR HER.”MACDONALD HAD NOT BEEN PARTICULARLY TERTED MAKG A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HOTON UNTIL SPEAKG TO HOTON’S AGENT NILE DAVID, WHO REPRENTED HOTON OM 1986 UNTIL HOTON DIED 2012.“SHE KNEW WHNEY PROBABLY BETTER THAN ANYBODY OUTSI OF HER FAY. AND SHE SAID TO ME, ‘THE THG IS, I LOVED HER SO MUCH, BUT I STILL DON’T UNRSTAND WHY WHAT HAPPENED HAPPENED TO HER FAY.’ THAT WAS THE KEY FOR ME. BEE, I THOUGHT, THAT’S SO TERTG SHE HAD SUCH VOTN AND LOVE FOR THIS WOMAN, YET SHE NEVER FELT LIKE SHE UNRSTOOD HER. SO THERE WAS A MYSTERY THERE. AND I APPROACHED THE FILM LIKE A MYSTERY. WHO WAS SHE? WHY DID SHE END UP AS SHE END UP? AND HOW N WE ACCS HER, WHEN SHE NEVER WROTE ANY DIARI? HER TERVIEWS ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY HER AVOIDG THE SUBJECT. ALL YOU HAVE IS THE PURY OF HER VOICE, AND THE BETY OF HER VOICE, AND THE EMOTN TRANSMTED BY THE VOICE A NONVERBAL WAY. ONE OF THE BIGGT PUZZL, FOR ME, WERE THOSE FAL YEARS OF HER LIFE. IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS SOME STORYLE THAT THE PUBLIC DIDN’T REALLY KNOW. HER VOLVEMENT WH BOBBY BROWN, HER DGHTER. THERE WERE MORS OF SUBSTANCE ABE.”“I IALLY THOUGHT THE STORY WAS MAYBE ABOUT HER SEXUALY—THAT SHE WAS SOMEBODY WHO WAS NOT ABLE TO BE GAY [PUBLICLY],” SAID MACDONALD, REFERRG TO THE ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP HOTON ALLEGEDLY HAD WH HER LONGTIME BT IEND AND EMPLOYEE ROBYN CRAWFORD—A UPLG THAT IS NFIRMED THE DOCUMENTARY BY SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO SCRIBE HOTON’S SEXUALY AS “FLUID.” MACDONALD E-MAILED WH CRAWFORD, WHO TOYED WH THE IA OF TAKG PART THE FILM BUT ULTIMATELY CID NOT TO.“I REALIZED THAT ACTUALLY IS NOT THE STORY,” SAID MACDONALD. “[HOTON] ONLY HAD, AS FAR AS I’M AWARE, ONE PROPER HOMOSEXUAL RELATNSHIP, WH ROBYN CRAWFORD, WHICH PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT. I THK THAT ONLY LASTED QUE A SHORT TIME. I FOUND SOME DOCUMENTATN THAT PROV, WHOUT A DOUBT, THAT WAS A ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP BETWEEN THEM . . . THE REAL STORY, AS I DUG EPER, HAD TO DO WH HER FAY, AND TO DO WH RACE, I SUPPOSE, AND HER CHILDHOOD.”MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISMACDONALD’S VTIGATN FELT, AT TIM, LIKE HE WAS NOT MAKG MUCH HEADWAY—EVEN THOUGH PAT HOTON PROVID MACDONALD WH ACCS, WHNEY’S ARCHIV, AND FAL CUT ON THE FILM. MACDONALD SAID THAT, HIS TWO- REER, HE HAS NEVER ENUNTERED AS MUCH “LYG AND OBFTN” AS HE DID WHILE SPEAKG TO WHNEY’S CIRCLE OF ASSOCIAT.“SO MANY PEOPLE I SPOKE TO WERE JT UNTTHFUL TO ME, JT BULLSHTG. I NEVER EXPERIENCED THAT ANY DOCUMENTARY BEFORE. AND I HAD TO TERVIEW MANY MORE PEOPLE, MANY MORE TIM THAN I EVER HAVE ON ANYTHG ELSE, ORR TO TRY AND STILL GET SOME B OF TTH.”THE FAY ULTIMATELY OPENED UP TO MACDONALD, PART, HE THKS, BEE HOTON STROYED HER REPUTATN BEFORE SHE DIED. “WHAT ARE YOU PROTECTG ANYMORE? THIS FILM HOPEFULLY KD OF FIV [HOTON] FOR THIS EXTRAORDARY SELF-STCTN AND STCTN OF HER DGHTER’S EXPERIENCE, AND HOPEFULLY HELPS PEOPLE UNRSTAND HER A DIFFERENT [LIGHT]. I THK THIS IS SOMETHG THAT PAT HOTON AGRE WH—THAT WE HOPE, THE END, THIS REALLY HELPS WHNEY.”MACDONALD’S FILM EXAM THE GHT RELATNSHIP WHNEY HAD WH CISSY, A PROFSNAL SGER WHO REALIZED EARLY ON HOW CREDIBLE HER DGHTER’S TALENT WAS. HAVG WORKED AROUND STARS FOR S, CISSY GROOMED HER DGHTER EXTENSIVELY TO BEE THE LEGEND SHE BEME—TEACHG HER TO BE POISED AND GRACEFUL, HOW TO NTROL HER VOL STMENT, AND SENDG HER TO A CATHOLIC ALL-GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL. THE RIGORO PREPARATN PAID OFF PROFSNALLY, BUT CREATED SOME RENTMENT WHNEY. WHEN CISSY ALLEGEDLY HAD AN EXTRAMARAL AFFAIR WH THE MISTER AT THE FAY’S CHURCH— SPE OF WHNEY’S FATHER’S OWN PHILANRG—THE MOTHER-DGHTER RELATNSHIP WAS FURTHER MARRED.“WHNEY WAS VERY RELIG, AND HER LIFE WAS AROUND THE CHURCH—SO WHEN THIS HAPPENED, HER LIFE, HER UNIVERSE, EXPLOD. AND SHE BLAMED HER MOTHER [FOR HER PARENTS’ DIVORCE]. THAT ALLOWED HER FATHER TO GET HIS CLAWS TO HER,” MACDONALD SAID. ACRDG TO THE DIRECTOR, HOTON’S FATHER, JOHN, WHO DIED 2003, “JT WANTED TO GET AS MUCH MONEY OUT OF HER AS HE ULD, THE SHORTT PERD OF TIME.”IN THE FILM, HOTON’S NER CIRCLE RELLS STAGG AN TERVENTN FOR THE SGER—ONLY TO HAVE JOHN TELL HIS DGHTER THAT REHAB WAS NOT NECSARY.“THERE’S A SAD THG I LEARNED, WHICH ISN’T THE FILM—BUT WHNEY’S PUBLICIST, LYNN VOLKMAN, SAID THAT SOMEONE JOHN’S OFFICE HAD A DG PROBLEM. AND JOHN SENT THAT PERSON OFF TO REHAB—HE WAS VERY GENERO, GAVE THEM TIME OFF, AND WAS REALLY RG. AT THE SAME TIME, HIS OWN DGHTER, WHO WAS ON DGS, HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHG ABOUT . HE DIDN’T TRY TO STOP THE TRA.”MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISTHE FILM ALLEG THAT JOHN, WHO WORKED AS HIS DGHTER’S MANAGER, ALSO STOLE MONEY OM HER. WHEN HOTON LEARNED OF THE BETRAYAL—AS HER MARRIAGE TO BROWN WAS CMBLG—SHE WAS CSHED. HER DG HAB LATED—SHE PREFERRED SMOKG E WH MARIJUANA—AND SHE WOULD DISAPPEAR BEHD CLOSED HOTEL-ROOM DOORS FOR UP TO 10 DAYS. RATHER THAN TERVENE, THE FILM ALLEG THAT HER LABEL POURED OVER $5 LN TO ILL-FATED RERDG TRIPS—LIKE A THREE-MONTH JNT TO MIAMI THAT PRODUCED LS THAN TWO SONGS. A PRODUCER RELLS HOTON SAYG AT THE TRIP’S END, “I DON’T THK I SLEPT 45 MUT THIS SUMMER.”MACDONALD ALSO DISPELS THE MYTH THAT BROWN WAS RPONSIBLE FOR HIS WIFE’S DG ADDICTN. IN ONE SCENE, GARY TELLS MACDONALD THAT, WHEN HE WAS WH HOTON, THEY WOULD DO DGS EVERY DAY. “A LOT EVERY DAY—SH THAT UALLY KILLS MOTHERFUCKERS, AND WE KEEP ROCKG.” AS FOR BROWN’S DG TAKE, GARY TELLS HIM, “LET’S JT SAY BOBBY WAS A FUCKG LIGHTWEIGHT WHEN ME TO DGS. HE ULD NOT . . . WE ED TO PASS BOBBY BY LAPPG HIM. TST ME.”OVER THE URSE OF MAKG THE FILM, MACDONALD SAYS THAT HE STARTED THKG ABOUT HOW HOTON’S TRAGIC PATH MIRRORED THAT OF HER FEW PEERS THE MIC DTRY.“IF YOU THK ABOUT THE THREE BIGGT STARS OF THE 1980S—PRCE, MICHAEL JACKSON, AND WHNEY—THEY ALL DIED WH A FEW YEARS VERY SIAR CIRCUMSTANC, BETWEEN THE DG ABE, THE ISOLATN, AND THE ECCENTRIC BEHAVR. AND YOU THK: WHY IS THAT? THAT IS NOT A CINCE. I THK YOU N TRACE ALL THAT BACK TO THEIR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE. THEIR PARENTS HAD ALL E OM EXPERIENCG TRMA THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH—THE GREAT MIGRATN, WAS LLED. THEIR PARENTS WERE VERY POLIL AND VERY ENGAGED BLACK RIGHTS. WH WHNEY, MICHAEL, AND PRCE, YOU ULDN’T THK OF THREE LS POLIL PEOPLE. AND THERE’S A SORT OF POPPY IVOLY—THE WAY THEY WERE THAT ALLOWED THEM TO BE ACCEPTED TO THE WHE MASTREAM WORLD—TO ALL THREE OF THEM.”THOUGH SHE IS GONE, THE FILMMAKER HOP THAT WHNEY WILL HELP REVER THE SGER’S REPUTATN AND REMD THE WORLD OF HER CREDIBLE GIFT. FOR THOSE WHO WERE CLOSE TO HER, THE PROJECT HAS ALREADY HELPED HEAL.“WH A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND HER, THERE WAS A SENSE OF GUILT, BEE THEY FEEL LIKE, ‘MAYBE IF WE’D BEEN MORE STRONG WH HER AT THE TIME, MAYBE NONT HER DG ISSU PRIMARILY, MAYBE THGS WOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN SO BAD,’” EXPLAED MACDONALD. “YOU GET THIS OPPORTUNY WH A MERA TO BE THIS KD OF PORTABLE PSYCHIATRIST UCH, TO S WH OTHER PEOPLE. MICHAEL HOTON, ONE OF WHNEY’S BROTHERS, SAID TO ME AFTER TERVIEW NO. 3 OR 4, ‘WE SHOULD JT DO THIS EVERY MONTH. I’M FDG THIS VERY THERAPTIC.’”“I SAW PAT YTERDAY, AND SHE SAID SHE TALKED TO MICHAEL AND TO GARY, AND THEY BOTH, THROUGH THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE OF MAKG THE FILM, FELT LIKE WAS A THERAPY SSN, AND OPENED UP A LOT OF STUFF. IT IS VERY PAFUL FOR A FAY TO DISCS [THE SUBJECTS], BUT THEY ARE VERY GRATEFUL, A WAY, THAT THEY HAVE.”JULIE MILLER
• WATCH: WILL THE NEW WHNEY HOTON BPIC ADDRS HER LONG-MORED GAY ROMANCE?
• ONE OF THE MOST UNR-EXAMED DIMENSNS OF WHNEY HOTON’S LEGACY IS HER STAT AS A GAY IN
• THE WHNEY HOTON BPIC IS A BIG, GAY MASTERPIECE

WAS WHNEY HOTON GAY? EXPLORG THE LEGENDARY SGER’S SEXUALY

Was Whney Hoton gay? We never talked labels, like lbian or gay. Kennedy went on to say, “They were partners a tradnal sense but never had a real nversatn about labels — lbian, gay, bisexual, girliend.

At that time, the church and the rerd dtry were both homophobic. All of them wanted to know, “Was she gay? Nearly 4 years after her marriage to Bobby Brown, Katie Couric asked Whney Hoton about Robyn Crawford and the gay mors once aga.

INSI WHNEY HOTON’S SECRET TORMENT FOR BEG GAY, FALLG FOR A WOMAN

Together that summer, they sunbathed at the Jersey Shore, went to gay clubs, and ma out a rental r before beg told to move along by a p. “They were partners a tradnal sense but never had a real nversatn about labels — lbian, gay, bisexual, girliend, ” Kennedy wr.

The church and the rerd dtry were both so homophobic, Whney knew the affair had to end when Clive Davis gave her a rerd al. “Was she gay? Their partnership ma sense: Bobby need to class up his bad boy image and Whney need to pe the gay mors.

WHNEY HOTON’S DARK FAY SECRET UNVERED NEW DOCUMENTARYIN KEV MACDONALD’S WHNEY, PREMIERG AT CANN WEDNDAY, HOTON’S NER CIRCLE NFIRM A CHILDHOOD TRMA HOTON SUFFERED.BY JULIE MILLERMAY 16, 2018WHNEY HOTON AT THE AMERIN CONCERT CELEBRATN ON JULY 4, 1986 JERSEY CY, NEW JERSEY.BY RON GALELLA/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEOSR-WNG FILMMAKER KEV MACDONALD (ONE DAY SEPTEMBER, THE LAST KG OF STLAND) DID NOT SET OUT TO BREAK NEWS WH WHNEY, HIS HEART-WRENCHG DOCUMENTARY ABOUT WHNEY HOTON THAT PREMIERED AT THE CANN FILM FTIVAL WEDNDAY. HE WANTED TO SCB OFF THE SAD, TABLOID NARRATIVE THAT BASED THE SGER’S REPUTATN HER FAL, DG-ADDICTED YEARS, TO SHOW HOW ONE OF THE GREATT VOL TALENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY—A SWEET GIRL OM NEWARK, NEW JERSEY—SELF-STCTED AND DIED 2012 AT THE AGE OF 48 UNR TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANC. BUT AFTER WATCHG HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF PRIVATE HOTON FOOTAGE—TAKEN AT HOME, ON TOUR, AND BACKSTAGE—MACDONALD BEGAN TO BE HNTED BY A SAD SPICN.“THERE WAS SOMETHG VERY DISTURBED ABOUT HER, BEE SHE WAS NEVER FORTABLE HER OWN SK,” MACDONALD TOLD VANY FAIR ON WEDNDAY. “SHE SEEMED KD OF ASEXUAL A STRANGE WAY. SHE WAS A BETIFUL WOMAN, BUT SHE WAS NEVER PARTICULARLY SEXY. I’VE SEEN AND DONE SOME FILMG WH PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUFFERED CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABE, AND THERE WAS JT SOMETHG ABOUT HER MANNER THAT WAS REMISCENT TO ME OF THAT SORT OF SHRKG—A LACK OF FORT HER OWN PHYSILY THAT FELT, MAYBE THAT IS WHAT WAS.” MACDONALD WASN’T POSIVE THAT HIS HUNCH WAS RIGHT—BUT “SHORTLY AFTER THKG THAT, SOMEONE DID TELL ME OFF THE RERD ABOUT BEG TOLD BY WHNEY ABOUT BEG ABED, AND BEG ONE OF THE CENTRAL REASONS BEHD HER SELF-TORTURE. IT TOOK AWHILE FOR ANYONE TO GO ON RERD ABOUT , AND EVENTUALLY THE FAY DID.”THE BOMBSHELL IS DROPPED ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF THE WAY THROUGH WHNEY—THAT BOTH HOTON AND HER HALF-BROTHER, GARY, WERE ALLEGEDLY MOLTED AS CHILDREN BY THEIR DEE DEE WARWICK, THE SISTER OF DNNE WARWICK AND THE NIECE OF HOTON’S MOTHER, CISSY HOTON, WHO DIED 2008. DEE DEE AND DNNE PERFORMED TOGETHER AS THE GOSPELAIR THE 1950S AND 1960S, SOMETIM SGG WH CISSY’S GOSPEL GROUP, THE DRKARD SGERS. DEE DEE WENT ON TO SG BACKUP FOR ARETHA FRANKL AND WILSON PICKETT, AND BE NOMATED FOR TWO GRAMMY AWARDS. CISSY ALSO SANG BACKUP FOR FRANKL, ADDN TO ELVIS PRLEY. WHEN SHE WAS ON TOUR, CISSY LEFT WHNEY, GARY, AND THEIR BROTHER MICHAEL FOR EXTEND PERDS OF TIME WH RELATIV.ASKED ABOUT WHAT LED TO HIS OWN ADDICTN ISSU THE FILM, GARY TELLS MACDONALD, “BEG A CHILD—BEG SEVEN, EIGHT, NE YEARS OLD—AND BEG MOLTED BY A FEMALE FAY MEMBER OF ME. MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE GONE A LOT, SO WE STAYED WH A LOT OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE . . . FOUR, FIVE DIFFERENT FAI WHO TOOK RE OF .”IT WASN’T UNTIL TWO WEEKS BEFORE LOCKG THE ED ON THE DOCUMENTARY THAT MACDONALD GOT ON-THE-RERD NFIRMATN THAT HOTON HAD ALSO BEEN ABED.“I FALLY MANAGED TO PERSUA MARY JON, WHO WAS WHNEY’S LONGTIME ASSISTANT AND PROBABLY KNEW HER HER LAST YEARS MORE THAN ANYBODY, TO TALK [ON-MERA],” MACDONALD SAID. “SHE TALKS ABOUT WHAT WHNEY FELT AND WHAT EFFECT HAD ON HER. SO WE CHANGED THE WHOLE CUT AT THE VERY LAST MUTE. IT WAS KD OF A TECTIVE STORY TO GET THAT PIECE OF RMATN, WHICH CHANGED HOW I FELT ABOUT WHNEY AND HOW I FELT ABOUT THE STORY.”MACDONALD RE-EDED THE ENTIRE FILM TO BUILD TO THAT REVELATN. IN JON’S EMOTNAL TERVIEW, SHE RELLS A NVERSATN SHE HAD WH THE LATE SGER, DURG WHICH JON REVEALED THAT HER SISTER HAD BEEN MOLTED AS A CHILD.“[HOTON] LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, ‘MARY, I WAS MOLTED AT A YOUNG AGE TOO. BUT WASN’T BY A MAN— WAS A WOMAN,’” RELLS JON THE FILM. “SHE HAD TEARS HER EY. SHE SAYS, ‘MOMMY DON’T KNOW THE THGS WE WENT THROUGH.’ I SAID, ‘HAVE YOU EVER TOLD YOUR MOTHER?’ SHE SAYS, ‘NO.’ I SAID, ‘WELL, MAYBE YOU NEED TO TELL HER.’ SHE SAID, ‘NO, MY MOTHER WOULD HURT SOMEBODY IF I TOLD HER WHO WAS.’ SHE JT HAD TEARS ROLLG DOWN HER FACE, AND I JT HUGGED HER. I SAID, ‘ONE DAY WHEN YOU GET THE NERVE, YOU NEED TO TELL YOUR MOTHER. IT WILL LIFT THE BURN OFF YOU.’”HOTON NEVER SPOKE PUBLICLY ABOUT THE ALLEGED ABE—BUT, AS MACDONALD UNVERS, SHE DID DROP CLU ABOUT . ASKED A PRS TERVIEW ABOUT WHAT MAK HER ANGRY, HOTON RPONDS WH SUDN, PALPABLE RAGE: “CHILD ABE MAK ME ANGRY . . . I HATE TO SEE KIDS . . . BOTHERS ME THAT CHILDREN, WHO ARE HELPLS, WHO PEND ON ADULTS FOR SECURY AND LOVE, JT BOTHERS ME. IT MAK ME ANGRY.” HOTON ALSO MA A POT TO BRG HER DGHTER, BOBBI KRISTA, ON ALL OF HER TERNATNAL TOURS, RATHER THAN LEAVE HER DGHTER AT HOME. SHE ALSO URGED JON TO BRG HER DGHTER ALONG WH THEM ON TRIPS.ASKED WHY HOTON NEVER TOLD HER MOTHER ABOUT THE ALLEGED ABE, JON SAYS, “I THK SHE WAS ASHAMED . . . SHE ED TO SAY, ‘I WONR IF I DID SOMETHG TO MAKE [DEE DEE] THK I WANTED HER.’ I SAID, ‘STOP. A PREDATOR IS A PREDATOR IS A PREDATOR.’ IF CISSY HAD KNOWN, SHE WOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHG ABOUT , BEE CISSY LOV HER CHILDREN.’”MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISMACDONALD SAID THAT CISSY HOTON HAS BEEN RMED THAT THE ACCATN IS MA THE DOCUMENTARY: “CISSY KNOWS. SHE WAS TOLD, AND VERY UPSET. I THK SHE WILL WATCH THE FILM AT SOME STAGE, BUT ’S OBVLY UP TO HER WHEN SHE WANTS TO DO THAT.”MACDONALD ALSO SAID THAT PAT HOTON—WHNEY’S FORMER SISTER--LAW, MANAGER, AND TATE EXECUTOR, WHO IS TERVIEWED THE FILM—HAS TOLD DNNE WARWICK ABOUT THE ALLEGATNS.“SHE HAS BEEN RMED. SHE HASN’T WANTED TO SEE THE FILM . . . BUT VERY MUCH MYSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE, WE ALL DON’T WANT HER TO SUFFER BY THE ACTNS OF HER FAY. ANY NEGATIVE FEELGS TOWARD HER WOULD BE PLETELY WRONG. SHE HAD NOTHG TO DO WH . SHE KNEW NOTHG ABOUT . WE FELY DON’T WANT ANY REPERCSNS FOR HER.”MACDONALD HAD NOT BEEN PARTICULARLY TERTED MAKG A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HOTON UNTIL SPEAKG TO HOTON’S AGENT NILE DAVID, WHO REPRENTED HOTON OM 1986 UNTIL HOTON DIED 2012.“SHE KNEW WHNEY PROBABLY BETTER THAN ANYBODY OUTSI OF HER FAY. AND SHE SAID TO ME, ‘THE THG IS, I LOVED HER SO MUCH, BUT I STILL DON’T UNRSTAND WHY WHAT HAPPENED HAPPENED TO HER FAY.’ THAT WAS THE KEY FOR ME. BEE, I THOUGHT, THAT’S SO TERTG SHE HAD SUCH VOTN AND LOVE FOR THIS WOMAN, YET SHE NEVER FELT LIKE SHE UNRSTOOD HER. SO THERE WAS A MYSTERY THERE. AND I APPROACHED THE FILM LIKE A MYSTERY. WHO WAS SHE? WHY DID SHE END UP AS SHE END UP? AND HOW N WE ACCS HER, WHEN SHE NEVER WROTE ANY DIARI? HER TERVIEWS ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY HER AVOIDG THE SUBJECT. ALL YOU HAVE IS THE PURY OF HER VOICE, AND THE BETY OF HER VOICE, AND THE EMOTN TRANSMTED BY THE VOICE A NONVERBAL WAY. ONE OF THE BIGGT PUZZL, FOR ME, WERE THOSE FAL YEARS OF HER LIFE. IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS SOME STORYLE THAT THE PUBLIC DIDN’T REALLY KNOW. HER VOLVEMENT WH BOBBY BROWN, HER DGHTER. THERE WERE MORS OF SUBSTANCE ABE.”“I IALLY THOUGHT THE STORY WAS MAYBE ABOUT HER SEXUALY—THAT SHE WAS SOMEBODY WHO WAS NOT ABLE TO BE GAY [PUBLICLY],” SAID MACDONALD, REFERRG TO THE ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP HOTON ALLEGEDLY HAD WH HER LONGTIME BT IEND AND EMPLOYEE ROBYN CRAWFORD—A UPLG THAT IS NFIRMED THE DOCUMENTARY BY SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO SCRIBE HOTON’S SEXUALY AS “FLUID.” MACDONALD E-MAILED WH CRAWFORD, WHO TOYED WH THE IA OF TAKG PART THE FILM BUT ULTIMATELY CID NOT TO.“I REALIZED THAT ACTUALLY IS NOT THE STORY,” SAID MACDONALD. “[HOTON] ONLY HAD, AS FAR AS I’M AWARE, ONE PROPER HOMOSEXUAL RELATNSHIP, WH ROBYN CRAWFORD, WHICH PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT. I THK THAT ONLY LASTED QUE A SHORT TIME. I FOUND SOME DOCUMENTATN THAT PROV, WHOUT A DOUBT, THAT WAS A ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP BETWEEN THEM . . . THE REAL STORY, AS I DUG EPER, HAD TO DO WH HER FAY, AND TO DO WH RACE, I SUPPOSE, AND HER CHILDHOOD.”MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISMACDONALD’S VTIGATN FELT, AT TIM, LIKE HE WAS NOT MAKG MUCH HEADWAY—EVEN THOUGH PAT HOTON PROVID MACDONALD WH ACCS, WHNEY’S ARCHIV, AND FAL CUT ON THE FILM. MACDONALD SAID THAT, HIS TWO- REER, HE HAS NEVER ENUNTERED AS MUCH “LYG AND OBFTN” AS HE DID WHILE SPEAKG TO WHNEY’S CIRCLE OF ASSOCIAT.“SO MANY PEOPLE I SPOKE TO WERE JT UNTTHFUL TO ME, JT BULLSHTG. I NEVER EXPERIENCED THAT ANY DOCUMENTARY BEFORE. AND I HAD TO TERVIEW MANY MORE PEOPLE, MANY MORE TIM THAN I EVER HAVE ON ANYTHG ELSE, ORR TO TRY AND STILL GET SOME B OF TTH.”THE FAY ULTIMATELY OPENED UP TO MACDONALD, PART, HE THKS, BEE HOTON STROYED HER REPUTATN BEFORE SHE DIED. “WHAT ARE YOU PROTECTG ANYMORE? THIS FILM HOPEFULLY KD OF FIV [HOTON] FOR THIS EXTRAORDARY SELF-STCTN AND STCTN OF HER DGHTER’S EXPERIENCE, AND HOPEFULLY HELPS PEOPLE UNRSTAND HER A DIFFERENT [LIGHT]. I THK THIS IS SOMETHG THAT PAT HOTON AGRE WH—THAT WE HOPE, THE END, THIS REALLY HELPS WHNEY.”MACDONALD’S FILM EXAM THE GHT RELATNSHIP WHNEY HAD WH CISSY, A PROFSNAL SGER WHO REALIZED EARLY ON HOW CREDIBLE HER DGHTER’S TALENT WAS. HAVG WORKED AROUND STARS FOR S, CISSY GROOMED HER DGHTER EXTENSIVELY TO BEE THE LEGEND SHE BEME—TEACHG HER TO BE POISED AND GRACEFUL, HOW TO NTROL HER VOL STMENT, AND SENDG HER TO A CATHOLIC ALL-GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL. THE RIGORO PREPARATN PAID OFF PROFSNALLY, BUT CREATED SOME RENTMENT WHNEY. WHEN CISSY ALLEGEDLY HAD AN EXTRAMARAL AFFAIR WH THE MISTER AT THE FAY’S CHURCH— SPE OF WHNEY’S FATHER’S OWN PHILANRG—THE MOTHER-DGHTER RELATNSHIP WAS FURTHER MARRED.“WHNEY WAS VERY RELIG, AND HER LIFE WAS AROUND THE CHURCH—SO WHEN THIS HAPPENED, HER LIFE, HER UNIVERSE, EXPLOD. AND SHE BLAMED HER MOTHER [FOR HER PARENTS’ DIVORCE]. THAT ALLOWED HER FATHER TO GET HIS CLAWS TO HER,” MACDONALD SAID. ACRDG TO THE DIRECTOR, HOTON’S FATHER, JOHN, WHO DIED 2003, “JT WANTED TO GET AS MUCH MONEY OUT OF HER AS HE ULD, THE SHORTT PERD OF TIME.”IN THE FILM, HOTON’S NER CIRCLE RELLS STAGG AN TERVENTN FOR THE SGER—ONLY TO HAVE JOHN TELL HIS DGHTER THAT REHAB WAS NOT NECSARY.“THERE’S A SAD THG I LEARNED, WHICH ISN’T THE FILM—BUT WHNEY’S PUBLICIST, LYNN VOLKMAN, SAID THAT SOMEONE JOHN’S OFFICE HAD A DG PROBLEM. AND JOHN SENT THAT PERSON OFF TO REHAB—HE WAS VERY GENERO, GAVE THEM TIME OFF, AND WAS REALLY RG. AT THE SAME TIME, HIS OWN DGHTER, WHO WAS ON DGS, HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHG ABOUT . HE DIDN’T TRY TO STOP THE TRA.”MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISTHE FILM ALLEG THAT JOHN, WHO WORKED AS HIS DGHTER’S MANAGER, ALSO STOLE MONEY OM HER. WHEN HOTON LEARNED OF THE BETRAYAL—AS HER MARRIAGE TO BROWN WAS CMBLG—SHE WAS CSHED. HER DG HAB LATED—SHE PREFERRED SMOKG E WH MARIJUANA—AND SHE WOULD DISAPPEAR BEHD CLOSED HOTEL-ROOM DOORS FOR UP TO 10 DAYS. RATHER THAN TERVENE, THE FILM ALLEG THAT HER LABEL POURED OVER $5 LN TO ILL-FATED RERDG TRIPS—LIKE A THREE-MONTH JNT TO MIAMI THAT PRODUCED LS THAN TWO SONGS. A PRODUCER RELLS HOTON SAYG AT THE TRIP’S END, “I DON’T THK I SLEPT 45 MUT THIS SUMMER.”MACDONALD ALSO DISPELS THE MYTH THAT BROWN WAS RPONSIBLE FOR HIS WIFE’S DG ADDICTN. IN ONE SCENE, GARY TELLS MACDONALD THAT, WHEN HE WAS WH HOTON, THEY WOULD DO DGS EVERY DAY. “A LOT EVERY DAY—SH THAT UALLY KILLS MOTHERFUCKERS, AND WE KEEP ROCKG.” AS FOR BROWN’S DG TAKE, GARY TELLS HIM, “LET’S JT SAY BOBBY WAS A FUCKG LIGHTWEIGHT WHEN ME TO DGS. HE ULD NOT . . . WE ED TO PASS BOBBY BY LAPPG HIM. TST ME.”OVER THE URSE OF MAKG THE FILM, MACDONALD SAYS THAT HE STARTED THKG ABOUT HOW HOTON’S TRAGIC PATH MIRRORED THAT OF HER FEW PEERS THE MIC DTRY.“IF YOU THK ABOUT THE THREE BIGGT STARS OF THE 1980S—PRCE, MICHAEL JACKSON, AND WHNEY—THEY ALL DIED WH A FEW YEARS VERY SIAR CIRCUMSTANC, BETWEEN THE DG ABE, THE ISOLATN, AND THE ECCENTRIC BEHAVR. AND YOU THK: WHY IS THAT? THAT IS NOT A CINCE. I THK YOU N TRACE ALL THAT BACK TO THEIR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE. THEIR PARENTS HAD ALL E OM EXPERIENCG TRMA THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH—THE GREAT MIGRATN, WAS LLED. THEIR PARENTS WERE VERY POLIL AND VERY ENGAGED BLACK RIGHTS. WH WHNEY, MICHAEL, AND PRCE, YOU ULDN’T THK OF THREE LS POLIL PEOPLE. AND THERE’S A SORT OF POPPY IVOLY—THE WAY THEY WERE THAT ALLOWED THEM TO BE ACCEPTED TO THE WHE MASTREAM WORLD—TO ALL THREE OF THEM.”THOUGH SHE IS GONE, THE FILMMAKER HOP THAT WHNEY WILL HELP REVER THE SGER’S REPUTATN AND REMD THE WORLD OF HER CREDIBLE GIFT. FOR THOSE WHO WERE CLOSE TO HER, THE PROJECT HAS ALREADY HELPED HEAL.“WH A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND HER, THERE WAS A SENSE OF GUILT, BEE THEY FEEL LIKE, ‘MAYBE IF WE’D BEEN MORE STRONG WH HER AT THE TIME, MAYBE NONT HER DG ISSU PRIMARILY, MAYBE THGS WOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN SO BAD,’” EXPLAED MACDONALD. “YOU GET THIS OPPORTUNY WH A MERA TO BE THIS KD OF PORTABLE PSYCHIATRIST UCH, TO S WH OTHER PEOPLE. MICHAEL HOTON, ONE OF WHNEY’S BROTHERS, SAID TO ME AFTER TERVIEW NO. 3 OR 4, ‘WE SHOULD JT DO THIS EVERY MONTH. I’M FDG THIS VERY THERAPTIC.’”“I SAW PAT YTERDAY, AND SHE SAID SHE TALKED TO MICHAEL AND TO GARY, AND THEY BOTH, THROUGH THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE OF MAKG THE FILM, FELT LIKE WAS A THERAPY SSN, AND OPENED UP A LOT OF STUFF. IT IS VERY PAFUL FOR A FAY TO DISCS [THE SUBJECTS], BUT THEY ARE VERY GRATEFUL, A WAY, THAT THEY HAVE.”JULIE MILLER

And yet, four years after they wed, Katie Couric asked Whney about Robyn and the gay mors once aga.

WATCH: WILL THE NEW WHNEY HOTON BPIC ADDRS HER LONG-MORED GAY ROMANCE?

We were one: That’s how felt…We never talked labels, like lbian or gay.

In her own memoir, Rememberg Whney, Cissy wrote that she never knew if Whney and Robyn's relatnship was anythg more than platonic, but revealed durg a 2013 episo of Oprah's Next Chapter that she "absolutely" would have had a problem wh her dghter beg gay.

But was clear few uld agree when me to Hoton’s sexualy, pecially her relatnship wh long-time iend and openly gay woman Robyn some kd of lost diary surfac, fans will never hear om Whney directly. The relatnship eventually end bee of homophobic are still very few openly queer black women the public eye, and while I want to make very clear that homophobia wh the black muny is not greater than or a larger societal problem than homophobia wh whe muni or otherwise, there is a generatnal feel to . If her dghter had been gay, Cissy Hoton said, she wouldn’t have ndoned .

ONE OF THE MOST UNR-EXAMED DIMENSNS OF WHNEY HOTON’S LEGACY IS HER STAT AS A GAY IN

” Crawford says she and Hoton, "never talked about labels, like lbian or gay. ”Both 2017's "Whney: Can I Be Me" and 2018's "Whney" highlight the faial homophobia that surround Hoton, as well as the prsure she felt om a homophobic, racist, patriarchal society and entertament bs.

THE WHNEY HOTON BPIC IS A BIG, GAY MASTERPIECE

Now, as a black and openly gay woman, she's reclaimg who she is, and who Hoton was to her. But what Crawford allows to mate on is how others have been able to dictate a culture of homophobia.

Crawford says her memoir that she and Whney “never talked about labels, like lbian or gay, ” but stead jt lived their liv. "I don't thk she was gay, I thk she was bisexual, " stylist Ell Lavar said the movie, acrdg to People.