Oprah Winfrey once helped cover up an onstage fall Whitney Houston suffered while performing on \u201cThe Oprah Winfrey Show.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did the whole, \u2018Hey girl, how you doing?\u2019 greeting thing and then I stopped the cameras and I went behind stage and I said, \u2018So tell me, what do you want to happen here? And I\u2019m gonna tell you what I want to happen here.\u2019 And that was one of the most powerful interviews,\u201d Winfrey, 72, said Tuesday at Cannes Lions, per Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n Houston \u2014 who had long struggled with substance abuse<\/a> \u2014 later returned to perform on the talk show and, at that time, had already relapsed.<\/p>\n \u201cI had such trust from \u2018The Oprah Show\u2019 audience \u2026 I think it was [Houston\u2019s] last show with us, and she had gone back on drugs,\u201d the Emmy-winning host continued. \u201cThe first interview I did with her when we\u2019d gone behind stage and I asked her about her intention, she was clean.\u201d<\/p>\n Oprah Winfrey (seen here at the 2026 Cannes LionHeart Seminar) revealed she once asked audience members to hide the time Whitney Houston fell on stage while performing on \u201cThe Oprah Winfrey Show.\u201d \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n \u201cThe first interview I did with her when we\u2019d gone behind stage and I asked her about her intention, she was clean,\u201d Winfrey recalled, adding that the singer had relapsed on drugs around the time of her appearance. \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n \u201cBut the day she came to my show then to perform in front of the audience, she was not, and she fell off of the stage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew that if that story got out \u2026 she would be destroyed by that,\u201d Winfrey, this year\u2019s recipient of the LionHeart Award at the Cannes Lions, recalled.<\/p>\n Winfrey continued: \u201cAnd so even though the audience was there and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life, and they did not. That would not happen today, I can tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after Winfrey\u2019s claims emerged, Houston\u2019s estate clapped back, telling TMZ<\/a>, \u201cWhitney absolutely fell off the stage, but it was during a sound check, and it was due to the darkness of the area and her unfamiliarity with the stage. She was absolutely not high.\u201d<\/p>\n Winfrey said she \u201cknew\u201d Houston (pictured here performing in December 2009) would\u2019ve been \u201cdestroyed\u201d by photos of the incident going public. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cEven though the audience was there and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life,\u201d Winfrey (pictured here hugging Houston) said. Harpo Productions<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tWant more celebrity and pop culture news?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with Page Six Daily.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n They acknowledged Houston\u2019s addiction struggles, adding, \u201cLike many people, she faced personal battles, but it is inaccurate and unfair to attach that struggle to every performance or every chapter of her life. What the studio audience witnessed on stage was the result of discipline, talent, and commitment \u2014 not the assumptions others project.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhitney\u2019s humanity included triumphs and struggles, but on that day, she showed up as the professional and gifted artist she always worked to be. We owe her the dignity of telling the truth, not repeating myths.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cGreatest Love of All\u201d hitmaker died at 48 years old after she accidentally drowned in the bathtub<\/a> in February 2012. However, the effects of heart disease and cocaine use were also listed as underlying causes behind her cause of death<\/a>.<\/p>\n For many years, it was believed Houston started abusing substances during her relationship with Bobby Brown, whom she was married to from 1992 until she filed for divorce in 2006.<\/p>\n