But Celine Dion didn’t wait for no official report to weigh in on Whitney’s death: Today on Good Morning America, the chest-thumping Canadian siren making some fairly bold statements accusing Houston of being a bad mother and succumbing to negative influences.
* “[Drugs] took over her dreams. It took over love and motherhood. When you think about Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse—to get into drugs like that, is it because of the stress and bad influences? What happens when you have everything?
* “Motherhood—you have the responsibilities of a mother. And something happens and it destroys everything. There’s something that happens and I don’t understand, that’s why I’m so scared. I’m scared of show business. I’m scared of drugs. I’m scared of hanging out. And that’s why I don’t do show business and parties… We have to be afraid.”
So, what do you think: Is Celine allowed to assert her maternal side or should she have held her tongue so soon after this tragedy?
Photos: Anirudh Koul, tm_10001
jokie cola
she didn’t make any accusations. in fact, she sounds as saddened as anyone else.
Ashton
Way to take Célines words out of context! She did not say Whitney definitely died from drugs. She did not say Whitney was a bad mother. She was expressing her anger, hurt, and sadness that drugs and bad influences overtook Whitney’s life and overshadowed her role as a mother, as a singer, as an idol, as a beautiful person. She was expressing her anger at the show business industry for fostering an environment where they take. beautiful souls like Whitney, grant their wishes, then destroy their dreams. She attacked show business and drugs, NOT Whitney.
QJ201
Celine has always been protected by her adopted father, I mean husband.
InscrutableTed
@Oh, ok.: You obviously don’t live in Québec. I don’t think it’s possible to go a week without being reminded of Céline’s existence.
Hell to the Naw!!
STOP IT!!
Celine was giving an insiders perspective of the dangers of stardom:
“[Drugs] took over her dreams. It took over love and motherhood. When you think about Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse—to get into drugs like that, is it because of the stress and bad influences? What happens when you have everything?
* “Motherhood—you have the responsibilities of a mother. And something happens and it destroys everything. There’s something that happens and I don’t understand, that’s why I’m so scared. I’m scared of show business. I’m scared of drugs. I’m scared of hanging out. And that’s why I don’t do show business and parties… We have to be afraid.”
nothing that she said is an attack on Whitney. If she is attacking anyone it is the bad influences and the pitfalls of the business!!
SHAME ON YA Queerty!!!
DJ Veno
I agree with many ppl on this and Ashton hit it right on the Neil.. We see this type of shit all the time and it’s heart breaking.
Pip
@QJ201: HAHAHA Celine has always spoken straight from her heart.
Marie Cohn
Drugs didn’t take over her dreams. Drug addiction was the symptom. Living a lie in a sham heterosexual marriage was the cause.
divkid
her muzak is the crackpipe of the terminally friendless and mediocre.
just say no!
Oh, ok.
@Ashton: Oh please. I live in West Hollywood, I see celebrities very often. Most of them are self-absorbed, always working an angle, and finding the best way to sell themselves as a larger than life persona.
They don’t do things from the kindness of their own hearts. She is digging at her addiction and parenting while simultaneously saying to the world “Hey I’m still here, listen to me now!”.
The same eye roll I’m giving Celine is the one I gave to that little girl from the X-Factor who stopped talking about Whitney and started talking about herself(and her album) when interviewed about Whitney’s death.
You can be naive if you want, but Celine is sitting here talking about how much better she thinks she is by comparison. “Hey look at me, I don’t do drugs, and I care about my children. Whitney chose drugs over her career and children!” is what those two-faced comments really say.
MKe
I would have expected her to be more sympathetic but Celine and Whitney both shared comparable voices so she’s really the only one other than Mariah or Christina that could get away with saying this.
stevoj
@jokie cola: took the words right outta my mouth
divkid
@MKe: ooooh, duck MKe, incoming!
Oh, ok.
@MKe: Uh yeah you really should duck saying Celine is anywhere near Whitney and Christina is anywhere near Mariah.
You’re comparing ok singers with modest careers to two celebrity icons with vocals that blow people away.
Mariah and Whitney are the ones you should be comparing to each other. They were always pretty much on par with fans, sales, and hit songs(though Mariah has consistently had more hits, Whitney had the better voice).
I love them both. I cringe at your comparison. Celine really is not that great and Christina is a joke. There’s a difference between screaming, wailing, and singing. Mariah and Whitney sing, Celine wails, Christina screams.
tookietookie
Celine is a god.
Oh, ok.
@tookietookie: Her media irrelevance certainly proves that.
Elmwood Mac
Celine pretty much was bang on. Whitney killed herself with drugs and alcohol just like so many stars before her. End of story.
Oh, ok.
@Elmwood Mac: That is not the point. You don’t go to someone’s funeral and spout off about what the person did wrong in their life. You don’t honor a person’s memory by giving a sermon about the dangers of drugs.
Celine used that moment as an opportunity to say “Whitney chose drugs over her career and family. I didn’t though so buy my album instead!” when she was supposed to be honoring Whitney.
There’s a time and place for everything. There’s also tact and graciousness. All she had to do was leave some kind words. Instead she spit all over her.
You Celine defenders can say what you want but she was wrong. We all know drugs ruined Whitney’s life, it didn’t need to be said when her achievements are being honored so soon after her passing.
Did her family really need to hear this shit when their loved one just passed and was being honored on national television? NO!
Ashton
@Oh, ok.: I’m sorry that you’re so jaded and cynical that you can’t see the possibility of a celebrity like Céline being sincere and kindhearted. Even though I usually think we’re backwards as hell, I guess there are some benefits to growing up in a small town life.
I guess it’s true what William Faulkner once wrote: “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.”
Oh, ok.
@Ashton: I’m sorry that you’re so naive you believe that gold-digging washed up wannabe was actually sincere given that she couldn’t muster one nice comment about Whitney’s accomplishments.
Clearly you and Celine both share an ignorance to the fact that she was asked to remember the good about Whitney, not the bad she wasn’t even there fore in the first place.
Whitney herself told us all about her addiction, it’s not news, and that wasn’t the forum to go over it.
G
I live in Brooklyn, in area mostly populated by people from caribbean area. Its like living in Precious movie every day. To move here was the biggest mistake of my life. I dont even calling them humans thy are WASTE. One above me dyed from overdose, below me got new born baby taken away because of drugs. I see what drugs can do. it destroys person, families, life, everything. Im sad about Whitney, and I see fair of Celine. I think America just got use to have a pill from everything. But where it leading us? We can even go and by cold medicine from shelf any more, because some fucked up kids getting high. What is wrong with us? So Celine have a point: wake up and smell fu**in coffee America!!!!!!!
Ashton
@Oh, ok.: Washed up? Gold digging? She has the number one show in the country and is the number one selling female artist of all time. I wouldn’t call that “washed up.” Anyway, if you knew anything about Céline, you would know she’s sincere and that this is how she is. She’s extremely upset because Michael and Whitney were her idols—and now she’s lost both of them, likely to drugs. You can’t go back to the 80s when she was a bouncy haired ugly duckling young girl living on a farm with 13 brothers and sisters—and there are videos of her talking about Michael and Whitney and her love for them and singing their songs. That was before the fame and fortune.
She’s sincere. The way she reacted was out of emotional distress, hurt, and anger at the culture. She had a similar reaction to Katrina in 2005: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXD4BGvPngM
Stop judging. People like you would secretly love to see Céline torn down the same way Whitney was. It’s a damn shame.
Fernando
Oh, ok: So you think that being relevant mean that you need to be in the media every time?? You must be a dye-hard-fan of Paris Hilton then…
I understand if you don’t like Celine, but denying her talent just proves that you don’t have any objectivity in your opinions and that you know nothing about what a great voice is. Can’t even understand how come you’re a fan of Whitney’s and Mariah’s. But I’m not here to talk about Celine’s talent, career, sales, sold out shows, achievements and so…
Like Ashton said, she wasn’t talking about the “bad Whitney” or about the causes of her death. She spoke as a fan, as a friend, being angry and sad about Whitney’s death and trying to understand what happened within her life. She loved Whitney and clearly said she was an inspiration for her.
leona lynn
Celine is in fact I agree saying Look at me, I’m the only one left, I’m a good mother, and a good person. She’s also saying Houston was not a good mother, a junkie, surrounded by sycophants, she is being totally ignorant here, you don’t speak like that in the aftermath of someone’s death.
Teach your kids Celine not to have your bad manners when they grow up.
Celine is not part of the family of artists, she has always been an outsider so let’s not pay too much attention to this.
Oh, ok.
@Fernando: Um Paris Hilton hasn’t been relevant for at least five years. And well your hardcore fangirl non-argument just makes you sound like a teenager. “If you think she has no talent then YOU’RE A STUPID HEAD!!11”, grow up.
She was throwing shade on Whitney to make herself look better by comparison to grab a few album sales of her own while Whitney is in the spotlight…due to her death.
It’s fine if you want to be so gullible, don’t expect anyone else to. And get a reality check because not everyone finds Celine Dione’s goat-like wailing to be a talent, in fact most Americans can’t stand her which is why she’s in Vegas and not LA.
I also find it hilarious that in your infinite stupidity you said you can’t understand why I’m a fan of Whitney or Mariah. A good portion of the world is. Have you been asleep for a good 25 years? Wake up.
John
Wake up people! Celine admired Whitney!!! She has problems expressing herself well in English when not scripted and she spoke from the heart. And she raised the fact that there are demons in Hollywood and she prefers not to be part of it. She never disrespected Whitney or said she was a bad mother. The media is turning the whole thing around. Just listen to the interview before commenting. Celine sounds as much in shock as Whitney’s fans and is still processing her death by questions during the interview!!!! Celine spoke the truth. She is no hypocrite as much of the industry who bashed Whitney for years and now say she was the best there is!!!!
Fernando
@Oh, ok.:
Yep, once again, I can’t understand how come you’re a fan of Whitney’s or Mariah’s when clearly you don’t have a clue about what talent or a good voice are… I’m a big fan of the three of them, and am very sorry for the lost of one of my biggest idols. And I know a big portion of the world is a fan of Mariah’s and Whitney’s, it’s the same with Celine. In fact, now that you quoted that, she was even elected as the American’s Favorite Singer back in 2010, and her records sales in US only have reached more than 50 millions, so… And she has been named “The Greatest Selling Female Artist Off All Time” too.
But of course I know not everybody finds Celine DION (not Dione) talented… There are those that say BS is an amazing vocalist. And there are those that also say Whitney had no voice at all. Same with Mariah. They are just no objectives, like you.
She wasn’t throwing any shadows on anyone, she doesn’t need to do so, but you think whatever you want.
Ginasf
Whitney had bad substance abuse problems for most of her daughter’s life. That bears mentioning and doesn’t get a pass just because of how someone sings. Regular people don’t get a pass on histories like that, and their children get taken away by CPS… Whitney got away with that because of her money and celebrity. Just because it all happened in some gated mansion in New Jersey by someone who sings doesn’t make it any better.
Not a Celine fan at all but here I think she spoke honestly, what needed to be said and from the heart. Robin Roberts wants to do kiss ass packaged tributes and have people say “Whitney’s in Heaven” and that’s crap. Whitney had demons before she ever met Bobby Brown. A bunch of enablers took a person with a serious history of multiple addictions several times to “party”… and she seems to have gotten loaded both nights. One of those times she got in a fight with someone and was pretty much ejected from the club… this is a 48-year old, not a 21-year old. Who’s talking about those ‘friends’ and how much they supposedly cared about Whitney? How about all the toadies who went out and procured her coke all these years? I have huge compassion for what her daughter has been exposed to and is going through now and hope she gets in Al-Anon post haste.
jeff
@oh, ok: haters will always hate. loser
Oh, ok.
@Fernando: I can make things up true. Nothing you said in that post is remotely true.
Fernando
@Oh, ok.: Cause you are the owner of the truth right??
I wouldn’t deny anybody’s talent, even if I don’t like what they do, cause there must be a reason why so many people follow them and everybody is entitled to their own opinions. If you want to deny Celine’s talent, that’s up to you.
Anyway, I said it before… think whatever you want.
Oh, ok.
@Fernando: So many who? Celine Dion was only ever Toni Braxton famous, nowhere near the league of Whitney or Mariah. Even Christina is more famous than Celine. Why are you so hellbent on making things up?
If you love her so much then you can be fine with her moderate success which is firmly rooted in reality.
J
Celine was only “Toni Braxton famous”? You know NOTHING about music charts or certifications evidently. Celine was one of the best selling female artists in music history, and is in fact in the top 5 best selling female artists of all time. It’s well documented. And I’m not even a fan (I’m a Madonna fan).
Your Vegas comment was a hilarious joke. Her last vegas residency grossed 500 million dollars. And 2 years ago she had a world tour that sold out and became the 2nd best selling tour by a SOLO artist of all time.
If you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t speak.
J
And to add to my last comment, mr. “Oh, ok” can go check soundscan to see that Celine is the 2nd best selling female artist after Mariah (their sales are extremely close) and far above Christina.
In 2004 She won the world music award for selling over 200 million albums. She’s MUCH bigger outside of the US than Mariah is (with the exception of Japan).
Shannon1981
I always admired Whitney and thought she was an amazing talent. In this case, I blame the enablers (Bobby Brown especially), and Whitney herself for not recognizing trouble. I feel sorriest for her daughter and mother, and hope that they get into counseling.
Ro
@Oh, ok.: You are making a fool of yourself. You have no idea what you’re talking about. I follow charts and sales religiously and Celine Dion is always listed among the top 3 best selling female artists in history (in the world, not just in the US).
Go to any Whitney, Mariah, Madonna or Celine forum and it is a common topic of discussion, with these 4 artists always being accepted as being neck and neck in terms of global sales.
Instead of pulling crap out my ass like you do, I actually rely on reliable sources such as RIAA, Soundscan, Billboard, IFPI, CRIA, etc. And btw? Toni Braxton and Christina Aguilera aren’t even anywhere near the top 50! WTF at you comparing Celine to them.
According to Soundscan, Mariah is the best selling female artist in the US since 1991, with Celine close by at #2. (both have scanned around 50 million units each in the US alone). The RIAA tracks shipments in the US rather than just scans, and on the RIAA list Celine is again in the top 5 for females in the US with the following order: 1. Barbra Streisand 2.Madonna 3.Mariah 4.Whitney 5.Celine.
Celine actually outsells Mariah by far in Europe.
Wikipedia is not a reliable source, but this article actually backs up individual certifications by country for the best selling artists of all time (which again Celine is in the top 3 for females – look at the sources linked)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists
Sony BMG announced in 2007 that she sold over 200 million albums worldwide, and she is almost always introduced as the best selling female artist of all time (a title also claimed by Mariah and Madonna) as you can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaOaFLVW_Wc
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2010-02-10-dion-vegas_N.htm
Celine’s concert tours gross more than any female artist except Madonna (and FAR more than Whitney or Mariah). The LA times listed Celine as the top grossing act of the last decade:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/01/celine-dion-reaches-peak-of-the-decades-ultimate-top-10.html
Ro
@Oh, ok.: You have NO idea what you’re talking about. You obviously don’t follow music charts or sales at all
Oh, ok.
@J: David Hassolhauf is apparently famous outside of the US too, your point? Celine Dion sucks.
Fernando
@Oh, ok.: Seems to be that the only way you have to “try” to make a point is insulting and bashing people. Celine Dion is not famous because she’s not in the spotlight right now, and has no talent because YOU think so… HA !!! Ridiculous !!!
Whatever… I wish you joy and happiness. But above all this, I wish you love. My heart will go on, and my ears will go on listening great voices like Celine’s, Whitney’s, Mariah’s, Christina’s, etc.
paul
Celine always admired Whitney….she even stopped her press conference in 2004 at the world music awards just to listen to Whitney. You can watch it on you tube. In this interview she simply said the truth…sometimes the truth hurts but if you dont admit what the truth is, we can never learn and these things will keep on repeating. Celine did not attack Whitney but the show business. Celine is truly an inspiration to everyone especially young artists. She is a role model.
J
@Oh, ok.: No one cares that you think Celine is shit, but it’s hilarious for you to make up shit and then accuse others of doing it. The point is Celine was always one of the top 3 best selling female artists of all time in MOST markets, including the US. it’s laughable that you would even compare her to Christina or Toni when neither of them have even a fraction of her sales. #delusional
Throughout Celine’s entire career she has been linked to Mariah and Whitney both in the press and by fans. In the single night following the news about Whitney’s death there were literally thousands of tweets calling Celine to perform a tribute (and that was before these controversial statements she made), not to mention over 1,000 Whitney tribute articles that mentioned Celine’s name. A huge percentage of Celine fans are Whitney fans and vice versa.
mike
its plain and simple thease famous people let it go to their head and get hooked up with drugs that end up killing them…………I do not feel sorry for any of them………..they wasted their lives away for nothing………