Whitney Houston's estate slammed Kanye West for using the drugged bathroom photo of the late star as cover artwork for rapper Pusha T's new album Daytona, which West produced, "Entertainment Tonight" reported Tuesday.
The statement said that the estate was "extremely disappointed in Kanye's choice" to use the photo of the drug-filled bathroom, according to "Entertainment Tonight." "Even in Whitney's death, we see that no one is exempt from the harsh realities of the world."
The celebrity news show wrote that the photo was taken when Houston was in the middle of her drug addiction a few years before her death on Feb. 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills. The award-winning singer's death was attributed to an accidental drowning in a bathtub combined with drug use.
West paid $85,000 for rights to the photo, which was taken by a family member in 2006, according to "Entertainment Tonight." Pusha T, whose real name is Terrance Thornton, tried to stay away from the controversy on "The Angie Martinez Show" radio program, saying it was West's idea at the last second.
"One a.m., my phone rings. No caller ID. (Kanye says), 'Hey, yeah, I think we should change the artwork,'" Thornton told the radio program, according to "Entertainment Tonight." "And, 'I like this other artwork. And this other artwork is 85 grand.' I said, 'Hey, I don't want to pay for that, and I wasn’t even going to ask you to pay for that.'
"We picked what we picked, it's here, it's ready. 'No, this is what people need to see to go along with this music. Imma pay for that.' I say, 'You my man. You my man.' I love it, I actually do love it. [But] I absolutely did not want to pay for it," Thornton continued.
Houston's cousin Damon Elliott, the son of hit R&B singer Dionne Warwick, said he was in "shock" over the use of the picture, which was first published by the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer in 2006, People magazine reported.
Elliott told People he found out about the picture's use from his daughter.
"(She was) frantic. She sent me this picture from the album cover and I immediately got sick to my stomach because it took me right back to six years ago," Elliott told People. "I was actually in shock because I'm in the music business.
"… To do something for a publicity stunt to sell records, it’s absolutely disgusting. It hurt my family and my daughter. It's petty. It's tacky," he added.
West has created waves on social media of late, first tweeting his support for President Donald Trump and then suggesting on TMZ that the enslavement of African-American in America was "a choice." The pronouncements drew ire from some of his fans and fellow celebrities.
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