AlthoughWhitney Houston’s cousin slammedKanye Westforusing a photo of the late singer’s drug-strewn bathroomas thecover for Pusha T’s new album, her nephew says he doesn’t blame the musicians for choosing the image.
“Not to be divisive, butI’m of a different mindsetwhen it comes to situations like this,” Gary Michael Houston, the son of Houston’s older brother Michael, toldGood Morning Americain a statement.
“People will automatically look to people like Pusha T andKanye Westand try to place blame or say they have ill or malicious intent to gain publicity. But I get it. I get the correlation (sans my aunt but the photo itself),” the 31-year-old continued, adding that he’s “actually” a fan of the album.
“Bottom line — they are artists and in this day and age, if they can afford to pay someone for usage of that photograph in order to convey a visual message to accompany their musicianship…then so be it,” he explained.
Johnny Nunez/WireImage
Pusha T previously revealed that while the pair were originally intending to use different cover art for his new albumDAYTONA– which West produced – the “Wolves” rapperchanged his mind at the last minute.
“One a.m., my phone rings. No caller ID. [He says,] ‘Hey, yeah, I think we should change the artwork. And I like this other artwork. And this other artwork is 85 grand,’” he recalled during an appearance onThe Angie Martinez Showlast week.
“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,’” Pusha T, 41, continued, adding that West then offered to pay for the photo himself.
Time Life Pictures/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Houston’s estate responded to the controversy on Tuesday, saying that they were “extremely disappointed in Kanye’s choice” for a cover image. “Even in Whitney’s death, we see that no one is exempt from the harsh realities of the world,” they saidin a statement to ET’s Kevin Frazier.
Houstonwas founddead in a bathtub at The Beverly Hilton hotel in 2012. The icon’s death wasruled an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use also to blame. In August 2012, her autopsy stated she also had marijuana, Xanax, Benadryl and other medication in her system.
Last week, the late singer’s cousin Damon Elliott slammed West for using the photo, telling PEOPLE that as soon as he found out about what was happening from his daughter “I immediately got sick to my stomachbecause it took me right back to six years ago.”
“I was actually in shock because I’m in the music business,” he continued, adding he had worked with West, 40, on a Keyshia Cole song. “I’ve watched the train wreck happening, but I didn’t think he’d go this far in invading someone’s family privacy.”
“To do something for a publicity stunt to sell records, it’s absolutely disgusting,” he continued. “It hurt my family and my daughter. It’s petty. It’s tacky.”
source: people.com
