For years, L.A. Reid was one of the music maestros behind Whitney Houston’s monumental career, but as fans know her reign as pop queen took a terrible dive for years thanks to her long-term struggle with drug addiction, as well as her tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown. Now, years after her death, L.A. Reid is opening up about his business relationship with her and claiming that he failed her.
During a recent appearance on the “Wendy Williams Show,” Reid discussed his new memoir, Sing to Me, which was released this week, and explained that one of his biggest regrets was that he orchestrated Houston’s infamous Diane Sawyer interview that tarnished her image and further cemented the rumors that Houston was using drugs.
“I was so naive. I didn’t realize that there was an issue. I said let’s get Whitney with Diane Sawyer and promote the album,” Reid said.
“She asked her the question about substance abuse and when Whitney said, crack is whack, my mouth dropped. I felt like I really failed her. My job is to protect talent and try to present them in a way that people will love them. My job is not to drum up controversy or drum up gossip.”
Well, that interview certainly did damage Houston’s career, but he certainly wasn’t wholly responsible for her fall from grace. More importantly, her legend as one of the greats still lives on.
