Just one day after a photo of Whitney Houston’s dead body in her casket was leaked, Whigham funeral home has announced that they are devastated and played no role in however the photo reached the press. More details after the jump…
Carolyn Whigham wants fans to know her family-run business did not sell the now notorious image and that she’s “horrified†by accusations her close-knit staff is to blame, she told the Daily News.
“We did not take that photo. We did not sell the photo. We would never do something like that,†the second-generation CEO of the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J., said.
“Whitney was a friend,†she continued. “I’m the one who flew to Los Angeles and got Whitney from the coroner’s office. I did everything to protect her.â€
She said a deluge of distressing emails from irate Houston fans now has her fearing for her staff’s safety.
“One email said that if the person owned a dog, and the dog died, they would not come to my funeral home,†she said with sadness. “I’m worried about my employees, worried about me. I’ve been in business since 1943. This is my name, my character. Honestly, this is my life’s work. We would never do something like this.â€
She said Houston’s family has made it clear they do not blame her business.
“I am very confident they are on the same page with me. Family friend Tyler Perry was on the Steve Harvey (radio) show this morning, and he said emphatically he knows we did not do it,†she told The News.
She said security was with Houston the entire time her body was at the funeral home.
“They were there 24 hours a day. They slept there with her. She was never alone, anywhere,†Whigham said. “The only time security fell back was when the family had the private viewing Friday. We weren’t involved with that. The family invited its own guests.â€
Houston, 48, died in a Beverly Hills hotel suite just hours before her mentor, Clive Davis, held his annual pre-Grammys party Feb. 11.
Police said she was found submerged in a bathtub. A coroner spokesman said multiple bottles of prescription medication were recovered from her room, but the cause of her death is pending toxicology tests that could take weeks.
The shocking National Enquirer cover photo shows Houston lying in a half-opened casket wearing a deep purple dress, a sparkling brooch on her chest and what appear to be diamond earrings.
Whigham disputed the supermarket tabloid’s claim that Houston was buried with $500,000 worth of precious stones.
“That’s crazy. It’s not true,†she told The News.
