Bobby Brown
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Rumors that Whitney Houston’s bad-boy ex-husband Bobby Brown is being excluded from her by-invitation-only funeral on Saturday are “totally untrue,” a family source tells PEOPLE.
“He is not being banned. That’s completely untrue,” says the source.
Adds a close family friend: “Bobby will be there at the funeral to support his [and Houston's] daughter [Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18]. There was some talk … some people were angry at him, but that’s just grief. He will be there.”
Earlier Thursday, PEOPLE reported that Clive Davis, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Kevin Costner will be among the speakers and singers at the funeral, which is being held at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., where Houston’s distinctive voice was first heard in the choir.
“Kevin always supported her and, like many of her friends, they may have lost touch, but they were always friendly,” says the family friend.
The friend also says that some relatives are planning to go to the church on Thursday night to say thanks to the fans who have left messages and flowers outside the house of worship. Friday night, a private family service is planned.
Earlier this week, Houston’s publicist, Kristen Foster, said that the only video camera to be permitted inside the church for the funeral will be that belonging to the Associated Press, which will stream the service on its Livestream site.
Brown, now 43, and Houston wed in 1992, and the following year Brown was charged with domestic abuse, though the charges were later dropped. After several rocky years together, the couple divorced in 2007.
Houston, 48, was found dead Saturday in the bathtub of her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and her body was returned to New Jersey on Tuesday.
Reporting by ANNEMARIE CRUZ, STEVE HELLING and LIZ McNEIL
Article source: http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20569493_20570894,00.html
