Everyone has a Whitney Houston opinion

By Steve Jones, USA TODAY

Some industry observers feel Whitney Houston did herself some good on Wednesday's confessional with Diane Sawyer on ABC's PrimeTime. Others seem set on making her a national laughingstock.

In the year's highest-rated newsmagazine telecast, the singer acknowledged using an assortment of illegal drugs, said she wasn't addicted to any of them but was addicted to sex, and insisted her thin frame was natural, not the result of illness or an eating disorder.

Reaction has ranged from "smart move" to "what was she thinking?" Talking heads from NPR to CNN weighed in, Web sites were abuzz with chatter, and Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update featured a walk-on by Houston and husband Bobby Brown (as satirically portrayed by cast members Maya Rudolph and Tracy Morgan).

Host Jamie Foxx couldn't resist poking fun at Houston at Friday night's American Cinematheque Award gala honoring Denzel Washington in Beverly Hills. "Whitney said, 'Uh, honey, check my receipts. I don't do crack.' Like coke is cool ..."

"Houston's "crack is wack" comment to Diane Sawyer became the running joke, with Cedric the Entertainer joining Foxx in repeating the comment. Bill O'Reilly said on The O'Reilly Factor: "Ms. Houston is a mess."

At a concert taping at New York's Lincoln Center on Sunday, to be aired on ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday between 7 and 9 a.m. ET/PT, Houston refrained from adding to the furor. The singer, who showed up 49 minutes late, expressed her love for her fans, many of whom reciprocated.

NYPD officer Lorraine Mayweather, 53, of Queens, said, "I watched the interview, and I want to say, 'You go, girl.' It was wise of her to do the show because she let her fans know that even though she made mistakes, she's back."

Northwest Airlines gate agent Sheila Brooks, from Memphis, who flew in to see the performance, said, "Whitney is God's gift to the world. I thought she was wonderful, and everything Diane threw at her she had an answer for. Her fans still love her, because we can't judge her. It's her life."

Houston also was not without support in industry circles. Craig Marks, editor of music magazine Blender, said, "I think she came off as a little nutsy-cuckoo but also very real and genuine." BET.com music editor Tonya Pendleton added, "What I found interesting when I checked our message boards was the amount of sympathy that people had for her, and I believe that is because many African-Americans know or have personal knowledge of drug addicts."

Vibe music editor Shani Saxon said, "I think people appreciated her honesty. This humanized her, and obviously everybody is talking about it, so it was a good promotional move, too."

The interview preceded the release Tuesday of Just Whitney ..., the singer's first album since she signed a new $100 million contract with Arista Records in 2001. It followed a period of media focus on her turbulent marriage to Brown, her sometimes skeletal appearance and widespread rumors of drug use.

Contributing: Contributing: Kelly Carter, Donna Freydkin, Elysa Gardner

NEWSFILE: 8 DECEMBER 2002