Whitney Houston’s Mom Responds To Abuse Claims Stemming From New Doc

Cannes was abuzz with anticipation this year ahead of the premiere of Whitney, the latest documentary on the legendary singer Whitney Houston. Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald compiled interviews from over five dozen of Houston's closest friends and family to piece together the story of her life and dig for the root problem that drove the singer to an addiction that eventually killed her.

After delving into her rise to stardom and oft-maligned marriage to Bobby Brown, the film theorizes that it may have been molestation from Houston's cousin, Dee Dee Warwick, that plagued her throughout her life. Surviving members of Houston's family have expressed their disgust at the newly-made allegations.

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"We cannot overstate the shock and horror we feel and the difficulty we have beliving that my niece Dee Dee Warwick... molested two of my three children," said Cissy Houston in a statement to People. It is also alleged that Warwick molested Houston's brother, Gary. Houston's mother says she learned about the claims, brought forward by the Grammy winner's longtime assistant, Mary Jones, just two days before the Cannes premiere of the film in May.

Though Cissy Houston says Warwick had "personal challenges," she says the alleged molestation is "overwhelming and unfathomable." Dee Dee Warwick died in 2008, four years before Whitney Houston in 2012. Read the full People story, here.