David Roberts, Whitney Houston’s real-life bodyguard and the inspiration behind Kevin Costner’s character in the 1992 movie ‘The Bodyguard,’ remains furious at the late pop star’s team for not getting her the help she needed before her tragic death.
In his upcoming memoir, ‘Protecting Whitney: The Memoir of Her Bodyguard,’ Roberts reveals how her handlers prioritized her “clean-cut image” over her well-being, refusing to send her to rehab despite his warnings.
1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣4️⃣ – WHITNEY HOUSTON
🏆 The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (1992) pic.twitter.com/z7fUfzzDxs
— R&B Home 🎶 (@RnBHomeMusics) February 1, 2025
Whitney Houston’s Health Ignored for the Sake of Her Reputation
Roberts, who worked tirelessly to protect Whitney from the dangers surrounding her, claims that music industry figures were more concerned with preserving her reputation than addressing her deep struggles.
“You and I should be sitting listening to her new records, but we’re not because it was allowed to happen. She needed help and was overwhelmed because of everything that was going on in her life, and her health did not come first,” he said before the book’s release.
“My anger and hatred towards those who had facilitated Whitney’s ability to do this to herself was profound,” he added. “Good heavens. I talked with her team members about things. The argument back in the day was that if one goes into rehabilitation, one’s reputation is tarnished.”
whitney houston performing in paris (1991) pic.twitter.com/XkGnhS5Z1d
— ᶜᵒⁿˢᵗᵃⁿᵗⁱⁿᵉ (@greenIight) February 12, 2018
Whitney Houston’s Tragic Death
The iconic singer, who tragically passed away in 2012 at 48, was found in her bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, having ingested cocaine.
Roberts blames her team for enabling this fate, expressing how their failure to intervene and get Whitney the help she desperately needed continues to haunt him.
David Robert’s Protective Instincts
Roberts remains dedicated to telling Whitney’s story and exposing the truth about her struggles. His protective instincts were honed through his background with the Metropolitan police and involvement in high-stakes security situations like the Iranian embassy siege. But, the threats Whitney faced were unlike any he had encountered before.
Just like in ‘The Bodyguard,’ Whitney was continuously surrounded by obsessive fans and armed individuals plotting her kidnapping, but Roberts was always on alert to keep the superstar safe.
“It did, in reality, follow many of the elements that we, Whitney and I, have experienced, or to a lesser degree. You get fanatics worldwide, and you have to keep them away,” David said of the film. “A man with a rifle or bomb is the most difficult threat. I carried a firearm wherever we went, whether it was legal or illegal.”
Whitney Houston performing at the Winter Olympics in Italy, 2006 pic.twitter.com/yPn0SOOTnP
— Whitney Archive ♡ (@nippyfiles) January 28, 2025
The Infamous Lexington Hotel Incident
Robert’s account of the 1991 hotel incident in Lexington, Kentucky, highlights the extreme lengths he went to protect Whitney when fans turned violent.
“One guy was thumping Whitney’s brother in the face, and so I hit the guy onc,e and he fell and went over the sofa,” he recalled. “I’m now dealing with three people who are a threat. One of them was standing behind me, and Whitney smashed a bottle of Heineken on my head.”
Robert added, “I turned around, grabbed him, picked him up, and he shouted, ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me’. The reality is I had been facing one of the other attackers, and Whitney threw the bottle to hit the attacker. If the bottle hadn’t hit my head, it would have smashed into the second guy’s face.”
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