Last week, an upcoming Whitney Houston documentary surprised the family by revealing information about incidents of sexual assault against Whitney and her brother as children. Many were shocked to learn about the allegations, especially considering they were against Dee Dee Warwick, Cissy Houston's niece. Cissy, Whitney's mother has issued an official statement about the allegations being made and she is in absolute "shock and horror" regarding the information being made available.
Speaking directly with People, Cissy and Dionne Warwick revealed their surprise at the new details. They said the following:
To begin we want to state clearly that the horror of what victims of sexual abuse experience is unimaginable. We make no attempt to minimize the pain, the trauma and perhaps lifelong damage to the psyche of abuse victims. We understand and acknowledge that there are no rules governing a person’s reaction to trauma and every person reacts differently. By this statement we do not intend to defend, condone or excuse the crime of molestation.
We cannot, however, overstate the shock and horror we feel and the difficulty we have believing that my niece Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne’s sister) molested two of my three children.
Whitney was a public person but the family reportedly had no idea that any sexual assault claims would be included in the film, despite it being marketed as a Houston family approved project. Their full statement is available to read here.