Aftermath...

EURWeb.com: The Aftermath of Whitney's Oprah Appearance
A bad boy and a mad author affected by singer's decision.
By Jacqueline 'Jackie' Scott / jaxsnaps@aol.com

Whitney Houston's sit down with Oprah may be gone, but it is not forgotten. Derrick Handspike - the author of “Bobby Brown, The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But” - is not happy about the outcome of Houston's appearance on the Oprah's show.

Houston is riding the wave of success musically; her album is right behind Jay-Z's on the hip hop chart sales. Houston climbed the charts from #3 to #2, passing a benchmark to gold. She has sold an estimated 554,000 albums.

Handspike, who released the unauthorized version of Bobby Brown's autobiography says that Houston did exactly what she asked Brown not to do.

“She was coming at Bobby like 'hey, you know, you just trying to make money off the family; and you know, why would you go write a book and reveal this type of information?' Yet, she goes on Oprah and does the exact same thing,” Handspike said in his recent interview with EURweb.

“We missed out on millions of dollars because she was telling him [Bobby Brown] 'you know, like, look, why would you want to put this book out trying to make money off your family?,” Handspike said.

Handspike said the pressure from Whitney Houston caused Bobby Brown to back out of the lucrative book deal and “other opportunities” that they had. Handspike also claims that Brown and Houston were still seeing each other as of last summer, even though they were no longer married. While he and Brown were penning the book, Handspike says he was dropping Bobby off at Houston's condo many a night because, despite the divorce, Houston and Brown were still together.

He said that Houston was aware that he and Brown were writing the book, but when she caught wind of what was in the book, she pressured Bobby to disassociate himself from the book.

“I feel like he should kick himself in the ass,” Handspike says of Brown. “Because you know, he actually honored how she was feeling about him releasing the book and the information in the book; but, yet she went and did the same thing on Oprah, but more. She released more, talking 'bout he spit on her. So, she went even further,” Handspike said.

He said he was disappointed at what seemed to be Houston's ability to manipulate Brown, asking him to honor their privacy. On the other hand, instead of Brown sharing his story to sell books, Handspike says Houston turned it around and used the story to sell her album.

“I never understood what was the problem in the first place with releasing the book. I thought the book was written in good taste and it revealed things he wanted to say, tell the truth about,” Handspike said.

He alleges that Whitney did use parts of the book, including a phrase he coined about “smoke laced joints” when she talked to Oprah.

Handspike also says there are things from the book that Houston did not mention. Those were the things that she did not want Bobby to mention either. They include, according to Handspike, that in the book, Bobby Brown admitted to getting “married for the wrong reason,” which he interprets as the marriage being a cover to squash the lesbian rumors (about Houston). The book also details the drug usage where Brown allegedly points to Houston as the one who introduced him to drugs. Handspike says that the book gives a clear account of the drug overdose Brown had. He says that Houston was “panicking” about the situation because “she was in there getting high herself.”

Handspike says Brown “didn't really say bad stuff about her [Houston].” He addressed some of the family matters, but he also talked about his own shortcomings, including cheating.

Neither Brown nor Handspike have been in contact with each other “since everything went left on the book,” Handspike says.

The two of them had been friends since 1992, but Handspike has no communication with Brown now. He does not know if Brown will counter the comments Houston made, but he has his own opinion.

“The whole world already been thinking that he [Bobby Brown] was the bad influence. The truth has already been told through his book cause uh, from what I gather, and from what, you know, through our own personal friends and all that. I know that ... Whitney ain't no punk. Whitney had a lot of influence.”

Handspike stands by his claim that it was Houston who led Brown to drugs.

“I know for a fact, she was already widely connected,” Handspike said.

“Whitney is hard core; she's East Jersey; she's gangster-ghetto gangster. She's no punk. She's from the streets. She's got that edge to her,” Handspike said.

He sees her media presence as a “TV act” and part of the record company's attempt to give her a clean image. Handspike says his relationship with Brown and Brown's sisters and family leaves him certain that Bobby was not the bad person Houston and the media have painted him to be. He says Brown already had the bad boy image, but Houston is the real culprit for things she didn't mention on Oprah.

Handspike sounded frustrated and astounded when he spoke about aspects of the Brown-Houston relationship. He said more than once: “I was just disappointed.”

“She's still thriving and making her moves. I was affected by the whole situation. I'm having my last words, you know what I'm saying, about the whole situation.”