Robyn Crawford Opens Up About Being Whitney Houston's Girlfriend in New Memoir

For years, it’s been rumored that Whitney Houston and her childhood best friend Robyn Crawford were actually lovers, an allegation confirmed in the estate-approved documentary Whitney released last year. But Crawford has yet to speak publicly about her relationship with Houston until now, finally publishing her story in her new memoir A Song For You: My Life with Whitney Houston.

People has an excerpt from the book, which Crawford describes as being a product of feeling “an urgency to stand up and share the woman behind the incredible talent” and “the need to stand up for our friendship.” The two met in 1980 as counselors at camp, where Houston told Crawford she was going to “look out” for her.

Crawford says Houston ended their physical relationship after she signed her record deal. “She said if people find out about us, they would use this against us and back in the ’80s that’s how it felt,” Crawford writes in the book, citing pressure from Houston’s mother as well who claimed it wasn’t “natural” for two women to be close. Previously, in her own memoir, Cissy Houston wrote about disliking Robyn but not knowing if they were dating, only that they “cared a lot about each other.”

In the Whitney documentary, Houston’s friends and family describe her sexuality as “fluid,” and Crawford similarly writes that she and Houston didn’t use labels like gay or bisexual. “We just lived our lives and I hoped it could go on that way forever,” she writes.