A brief preview of Oprah Winfrey’s exclusive interview with Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, has been released, offering a glimpse of what’s to come during the Houston family’s first sit-down talk since the pop star’s death.
The discussion, a special episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” also includes a conversation with Houston’s brother, Gary, and sister-in-law, Patricia.
“As a big brother, how did you feel about (Houston's controversial ex-husband) Bobby Brown?” Winfrey asks Gary in the spot, which doesn't reveal his answer.
Winfrey is also seen hugging Houston's only child, Brown, who just turned 19.
The special, which airs March 11 on OWN, has some viewers questioning whether Winfrey's motivation for the interview comes too early for the grieving family.
The show will run a month after Houston was found dead in the bathtub in her room at the Beverly Hills Hilton on Feb. 11.
Brown was hospitalized the day after her mother's body was found, reportedly for treatment of anxiety.
TMZ is reporting that sources close to Houston's daughter say she trusts Winfrey to be respectful in the interview, quoting her as saying Winfrey "was loyal to my mom, and never did my mother wrong, or made her look bad. She always looked out for my mom."
Winfrey was a guest at Houston’s invitation-only funeral.
Still, some fans feel the teenager shouldn't appear on the show.
“I do not believe that O is looking out for (Brown's) best interests at this time," a reader going by Kozy wrote on TMZ. "If you truly do trust her, I honestly believe she would respect you and not ask for an interview that she could profit on. If she truly cared, she would not be trying to score such a huge interview to save her failing network.”
theGrio, an msnbc.com partner, posed a similar question to its Twitter audience, asking “Will Bobbi Kristina help out OWN's ratings?”
“Our culture is shameful,” writes CajunDave in reply.
But others think the interview could be helpful to Houston's family. “We all grieve differently,” robjh1 comments on a related piece by TheGrio. “It is easy to say, ‘Why is the interview taking place so soon after Houston's death?’ and ‘Why is it being done at all?’ Well, so soon perhaps to end the endless reporters reaching out to the family to get them to talk and to control, somehow, the information on how a loved one is being portrayed.”
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