Kanye West is creating controversy by using a photo of Whitney Houston’s drug-ridden bathroom as the cover of the album he just produced for rapper Pusha T — reportedly paying $85,000 for rights to the pic — and this is not sitting well with a relative of the late “I’m Every Woman” singer.
Houston, 48, drowned in the bathtub in her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2012 with an array of drugs in her system, including cocaine, marijuana, Xanax and others. The photo of Houston’s bathroom (which West first shared in a Twitter post) was taken in 2006, in which a variety of drug paraphernalia can be clearly seen.
Houston’s cousin, singer and producer Damon Elliott, spoke with People about the album cover, which he finds to be “absolutely disgusting,” revealing he didn’t learn about it until receiving a phone call from his daughter.
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“[She was] frantic. She sent me this picture from the album cover and I immediately got sick to my stomach because it took me right back to six years ago,” says Elliott.
“I was actually in shock because I’m in the music business,” adds Elliott, who tells People he actually worked with West once, on a song recorded by Keyshia Cole.
“I’ve watched the train wreck happening, but I didn’t think he’d go this far in invading someone’s family privacy,” he continues, referencing West’s recent controversies.
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“To do something for a publicity stunt to sell records, it’s absolutely disgusting,” says Elliott. “It hurt my family and my daughter. It’s petty. It’s tacky.”
According to Elliott, Houston “never did anything to West,” adding, “I just want him to tell me why he did it. What is the creative side of this? What’s the point? It shows no creativity.”
Elliott tells People that he wants West to apologize and find different artwork to use for the album. If West does contact him, he already knows what he’ll tell him.
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“What were you thinking? Did you think this through? And if you did, why did you do this?” he says. “Because you’re hurting people. It knocked the wind out of me last night. When someone passes, you try to mourn and move on and remember the good times… Why are you going to pay $85,000 to bring something to the forefront?”
In a radio interview with “The Angie Martinez Show”, Pusha T revealed that West called him late at night to tell him he just paid $85,000 for rights to the photo — which first appeared in The National Enquirer in 2006 — and insisted it be used for the “Daytona” album cover.
