Plea...

[From Reuters]

Whitney Houston's Dad Makes TV Plea to Daughter
Thu Dec 5, 9:01 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop diva Whitney Houston's ailing father, who is suing her for $100 million, called for his daughter to settle the case in a televised plea Thursday, urging her from his hospital bed to "pay me the money that you owe me."

John Houston, 82, made his unusual public appeal on the syndicated television show "Celebrity Justice," a day after his daughter said in her own ABC interview that her father's suit was hurtful and motivated by someone who "has put fear in his heart."

The elder Houston recently filed a breach-of-contract suit against the 39-year-old singer alleging that his daughter hired him and his business partner to help her with various financial difficulties and to negotiate her contract with Arista Records. But the suit says his company was never paid.

"I never thought about suing my daughter," he told "Celebrity Justice." "I thought about suing the corporation that belongs to Whitney and she happened to be right in the middle of it." The nature of Houston's illness was not disclosed.

Addressing his daughter directly during the interview, Houston said, "You get your act together honey, and you pay me the money that you owe me. If you do that, you haven't got a lawsuit. ... At my age, I haven't got that long. Now if you think I got that long, you think about it. You step into my shoes. I would like to spend the last years of my life on a boat some place."

Appearing on a special edition of ABC's "Primetime" with Diane Sawyer on Wednesday the younger Houston acknowledged a history of drug and alcohol abuse but denied persistent rumors that she is suffering from eating disorders.

She said she still loves her father, despite their legal dispute, and hoped they would work out their differences, but added, "They'll never get $100 million out of me. I know that!"

The "Primetime" interview was a ratings bonanza for ABC, averaging 21.3 million viewers to rank as the most watched news magazine broadcast on any network since Connie Chung interviewed congressman Gary Condit on ABC's "Primetime Thursday" in August 2001, ABC said.

"Celebrity Justice" is produced by Time Telepictures Television West Coast Productions, the AOL Time Warner Inc. unit behind the syndicated TV show "Extra."

NEWSFILE: 6 DECEMBER 2002