The first trailer for Lifetime’s upcoming Whitney Houston biopic highlights the late songstress’ substance abuse and turbulent relationship with husband Bobby Brown. “Whitney” marks Angela Bassett’s directorial debut and stars “America’s Next Top Model” alum and “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” actress Yaya DaCosta as the troubled singer. Bassett and Houston starred together in 1995’s “Waiting to Exhale.”
Grammy nominee Deborah Cox provides the voice for DaCosta’s character.
The movie chronicles Houston’s meteoric rise from small-town church choir singer to international superstar, and her fall into the depths of addiction. Houston drowned in her hotel bathtub in February 2012, with heart disease and cocaine listed by the coroner as contributing factors in her death. She was 48.
“You need to protect the voice,” Clive Davis warns Houston in the trailer.
The network recently aired biopics on Aaliyah, Brittany Murphy and Gabby Douglas. The film premieres on January 17.
