Ray J, who is “absolutely devastated”, released a statement on the forlorn death of his “special friend”, the legendary Whitney Houston, six days after the superstar’s demise.
“Over the past few days, I’ve tried to process the emptiness that I am experiencing. What my heart feels cannot be expressed in words,” he said to US Weekly in a statement. “The world lost an icon, but I lost my close friend.”
Ray J’s underlined relationship with the icon has been questioned since the two were spotted together as early as 2010, roughly three years after Whitney divorced Bobby Brown.
“Nippy, I miss you so much! You were so happy and full of love,” Ray J, 31, continued. “Your smile will live in my heart forever.”
Though the unusual pair never explicitly addressed their relationship beyond acknowledging their friendship, the two were often seen being cozy together. Two days before the superstar was found unresponsive in her hotel suite, witnesses saw Whitney and Ray J cuddling at Tru nightclub before she went on stage to sing “Yes, Jesus Loves Me”—what would become her final performance.
Ironically, Ray J appeared on ‘The Insider’ on February 10 ( a day before Whitney’s death) to promote his new advice book, “Death of the Cheating Man.” In the interview, he was repeatedly pressed for information about his relationship with Houston.
“You know, they blow this thing out of proportion. I mean, that’s my friend. I’ve known her for years and years and years, and she’s a friend of the family,” he said on the show. “I have a lot of love for her, and I have a lot of respect for her. Our friendship is something that people might not understand, maybe because of the age difference, but we’ve always just been friends. We hug, we laugh, we go out to dinner. … We talk about, you know, different things in our lives and she’s a cool person.”
Ray J was reportedly home when he learned of Whitney’s passing and was denied access to her body when he tried to see her at the Beverly Hilton hotel, but “spent the night comforting Bobbi Kristina (Whitney and Bobby Brown’s daughter)” instead.
Earlier today Ray-J, Brandy and their mother were spotted at the airport heading to Newark, New Jersey ahead of Whitney Houston’s wake. It’s unclear if they attended the wake but Bobbi Kristina, Clive Davis, Cissy Houston and Dionne Warwick were spotted at the private wake.
