Overview
- Oprah Winfrey said at the Cannes Lions event on Tuesday that Whitney Houston had relapsed and fallen off the stage during her 2009 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
- The Whitney Houston Estate issued a formal statement saying the fall happened during a soundcheck because the stage was dark and unfamiliar and that Houston was absolutely not high.
- Whitney’s former hairstylist Tiffanie Dixon and other on‑site sources backed the estate’s account and said Houston was upbeat and not using drugs that day.
- Entertainment journalist Roger Friedman recalled a 2021 Zoom in which Winfrey reportedly said drugs were not the cause and said he can produce the recording to contradict the Cannes Lions remark.
- Commentators including Mo’Nique and Rickey Smiley criticized Winfrey for publicly asserting disputed claims about a deceased person, and Winfrey has not issued a substantive public clarification in the recent coverage.