Overview
- Oprah told an audience at Cannes Lions that Whitney Houston had “gone back on drugs” and fell off the stage during her 2009 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
- Whitney Houston’s estate posted an Instagram statement saying the fall happened during a soundcheck because the stage was dark and that Houston “was absolutely not high.”
- Former hairstylist Tiffanie Dixon and at least one unnamed on-site source have publicly supported the estate’s version and disputed the claim Houston was using drugs that day.
- Entertainment journalist Roger Friedman says a 2021 Zoom in which Oprah reportedly denied drugs caused the slip exists and offered to produce it, but no recording has been released.
- Commentators warn the exchange raises reputational and ethical questions about telling sensitive anecdotes about the dead and may lead to calls for archival evidence or a public clarification.