Gerrick D. Kennedy remembers Whitney Houston's death all too clearly. It was 10 years ago this month. He was a 24-year-old music reporter with the Los Angeles Times covering a pre-Grammy event when he unexpectedly spoke with the disheveled singer after observing her erratic behavior in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton hotel. Forty-eight hours later, she was found dead in her hotel room. Kennedy's article about the messy scene he'd witnessed became a widely circulated, national story and his first major scoop as a professional journalist. But as a Houston fan who was emotionally invested in her work, Kennedy felt conflicted. His instinct to protect an artist he loved ran counter to his job as a reporter.
That ethical conundrum and the complex questions it raised were an early indicator of the soul-searching to come. Kennedy's new book, "Didn't We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston," is a candid exploration of Houston's talent, dysfunction and fame beyond the tabloid headlines about drug addiction and fights with her husband Bobby Brown. It seriously considers her impact on music, pop culture, race and the author's own life as a queer Black man. Kennedy, who left The Times in 2019, spoke to his former music editor Lorraine Ali (now the Times' Television Critic) about their coverage of Houston's 2012 death, her misunderstood life and what we can still learn learn from Whitney.
Q: Let's start with the subtitle of your book: Why does Whitney Houston need defending?
