Chaka Khan, the Queen of Funk, openly condemned music executive and Whitney Houston’s mentor Clive Davis on CNN’s Piers Morgan show for continuing his annual pre-Grammy dinner just hours after the iconic legend was pronounced dead. Whitney’s body had yet to be removed from the Beverly Hilton hotel where the dinner was also being held.
“I thought that was complete insanity,” the “Tell Me Something Good” iconic singer said as Piers asked her thoughts on half the room being in tears and the other half partying at the ongoing pre-Grammy dinner.
“And knowing Whitney, I don’t think she would have said the show must go on,” a weary-looking Chaka continued. “She’s the kind of woman that would have said ‘Uh uh, stop everything. I’m not going to be there.’”
Khan was referring to Clive’s statement he read while honoring Whitney at the annual event where he suggested that the late Houston’s family gave their blessing for the continuance of the dinner.
“By now you have all learned of the unspeakably tragic news of our beloved Whitney’s passing. I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years…She graced this stage with her regal presence and gave so many memorable performances here over the years. Simply put, Whitney would have wanted the music to go on and her family asked that we carry on,” Davis said as he read from a statement.
Though Whitney was pronounced dead at 3:55 P.M. PST, the “The Greatest Love Of All” singer’s body was still at the hotel on the fourth floor because officials did not want to disrupt the integrity of the scene where the star died before an absolute comb over of the hotel room was completed. Many did not attend the dinner because the thought of the late superstar’s body still in the hotel where the dinner was being held felt wrong and disrespectful.
While some celebs decidedly attended Davis’ event to pay tribute to the icon’s untimely and tragic death, Chaka, Sharon Osbourne, and Beyonce Knowles were notably absent from the hyped annual outing.
“I don’t know what could motivate a person to have a party, in a building (where Whitney’s body laid), where the person whose life he (Clive Davis) had influenced so enormously and whose life had been so affected by hers (Whitney Houston), “Chaka said.
Apparently Chaka was also too devastated about the loss of the “Saving All My Love” singer that she bowed out of the 54th Grammy Awards tribute performance for Houston where she was to join Jennifer Hudson who sang a beautiful rendition of Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You”.
“As I grieve the loss of my friend and ‘little sister,’ I don’t feel it appropriate to perform at this time. Continue to pray for the family,” Khan tweeted the day of the Grammy Awards.
In a new update, a source close to the family are reportedly denying ever giving Clive Davis the go-ahead to continue the party.
The insider told Radar Online, “The mood in the suite was just that of pure shock. Bobbi Kristina was absolutely inconsolable, she was rocking back and forth on the couch, crying hysterically. Clive was already dressed in his tux and most of Whitney’s family was already dressed for the party. There wasn’t any mention of the party proceeding or being canceled by Clive. He told Whitney’s family that they could stay in his suite as long as they needed to, and then after about 45 minutes with them, he left. He said he had to go downstairs and take care of the guests, but the family had no idea that the party was going to proceed. Whitney’s aunt, Mary Jones, was absolutely stunned that the party was going ahead, and she was very upset that it hadn’t been canceled.”
“Even IF Whitney had given her blessing for the party to continue, even that doesn’t make it ok. Her body was lying in a room upstairs, dead, for heaven’s sake. It was simply in bad taste, period. The family just feels like it was very insensitive for the party to continue. Yes, guests were on the way to the hotel at the time when they learned the news, but they could have had a prayer in the ballroom, and then Clive could have, and should have, sent everyone home. The food could have been donated to a local homeless shelter.”
Do you agree with Chaka Khan’s sentiments?
