By Jamie Foster Brown

Once again the media is ablaze with a story about Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston's marriage. A tabloid reported that Bobby and Whitney argued and fought on a luxury boat while on their second honeymoon in Italy. Because of that story, the public now believes that Bobby whacked Whitney, leaving a two-inch scar on her face. The scar is real, and because of it, Whitney jokingly calls herself "Scarface." Now, in a very exclusive interview, both Bobby and Whitney tell what really happened on that boat in Italy when she suffered the world famous cut on her face.

But they (especially Bobby) talked blunt and about much more. Why did Bobby pull his pants down on the New Edition tour and why does he refuse to tour with the group again? Why is he so excited about his new album? (It's titled Forever and it's scheduled to be released November 4th.) They speak out on their marriage, their new business ventures, and everything I thought you'd want me to ask them. We held up the presses for this exclusive interview. Listen in, little babies.

Jamie: Get the belt, get the switch. How's Mama?
Bobby: Everybody is good.
Jamie: [Your brother] Tommy is good, too?
Bobby: Yeah, he's all right.
Jamie: Yeah, so tell me about "Happy Days," baby. You know that is the song on your new album that sticks out.
Bobby: Oh really? You got the album, right? Jamie: I don't have the whole album, but I got a tape of four songs from it. [Whitney yells to Bobby in the background.]
Bobby: My wife said, "Tell her the real Mrs. Brown said hello."
Jamie: Is she talking about me? I know she's talking about me. [Laughter] You tell her the real Mrs. Brown said hello. You sound more like Bobby Womack now.
Bobby: Who? Bobby Womack?
Jamie: Aw man, that kind of guttural, gutsy raw sound.
Bobby: Thank you. That's a compliment.
Jamie: It is a compliment because I like Bobby Womack a lot. Is that the same music we heard last year when I did the photo session with you?
Bobby: Some of it is. I pulled in a lot of tracks I wrote and produced for personal reasons. I'm waiting to release those later when I'll have more of a control over them.
Jamie: Well who wrote on this album?
Bobby: Me. I'm writer and producer of 90 percent of the tracks.
Jamie: You didn't work with Teddy Riley or Babyface or any of them, did you? Bobby: No. Jamie: Did you work with Tim and Bob.
Bobby: I worked with Tim and Bob on four of the cuts. And DOA.
Jamie: That stands for Derrick Allen?
Bobby: Yeah. Jamie: Did you work down in Bosstown [Bobby's recording studio]?
Bobby: Most of it was done in Bosstown or via Crossway. That's my other studio here in Jersey.
Jamie: Oh you have a studio up there?
Bobby: Yeah, it's a home studio- me and my wife's studio.
Jamie: What wife?
Bobby: [Laughs.] Mrs. Brown.
Jamie: What did you get her for her birthday? 'Cause you know Sister 2 Sister wants to know.
Bobby: It's kind of private. [Bobby laughs.]
Jamie: You know the Enquirer is going to find out.
Bobby: Ain't nobody gonna find out what I gave her.
Jamie: You're sure?
Bobby: Nobody.
Jamie: How old was she?
Bobby: How old was she? I don't know.
Jamie: You don't know how old your wife is?
Bobby: I don't know how old she is. Naw, she's 34.
Jamie: Just 34?
Bobby: Just 34? I'm going to tell her you said that. Why? Does she look older? Jamie: No, but Whitney has been around a long time. But she's just 34. That's a baby. Did y'all celebrate?
Bobby: We celebrated. We had our little weekend together-kicked everybody out of the house, all the kids. We told everybody not to come in for the whole week. We had our little time together.
Jamie: How's the marriage doing?
Bobby: Everything's great, you know how these papers are, and how people are.
Jamie: Well what happened on the boat in Italy?
Bobby: Oh yeah. We were on our second honeymoon. We called our second honeymoon trip. We were just eating lunch and I guess she tried to get up a little bit too quick and her hands slipped and plates flew and hit her in the face ... it bust and a piece of glass hit her in the face and she got cut, and obviously they thought a man that they talked about like they talked about me must have did something to his wife but I've never put my hand on my wife and never would.
Jamie: I really have never known you to hit a woman.
Bobby: No I'm not cut like that. That ain't me.
Jamie: No, Hiriam [Hicks, Island Records executive and New Edition tour manager before the group ever split up] and I were talking about this earlier today and he said, "You know, Jamie, Bobby don't roll like that."
Bobby: No. Hell no.
Jamie: Now what they were saying is that when she went on the boat, y'all were arguing, right?
Bobby: No, we weren't arguing. We were laughing and kidding and just having a good time.
Jamie: You are kidding me? The media said that you were arguing because you were driving that boat real crazy.
Bobby: No we were having fun in boat.
Jamie: So you were having a time and she 't saying that your fast driving could have killed her? This is your opportunity to straighten it out.
Bobby: We were having a real time and an accident happened and cut our time short. That's the worst of it- that our time got cut short on our vacation.
Jamie: How about the scars? Are they going to leave marks?
Bobby: It should be good. She should be all right.
Jamie: They said you didn't try to help her and you didn't talk to each other after it happened.
Bobby: What?
Jamie: I am just repeating the story. Let me ask you the questions so you can say your side. They said that in the cab to the doctor, you all did not speak; that you sat up front and she sat in the back.
Bobby: None of that. I was right there with her the whole time. Me and my sister-in-law, Donna Houston, at all times. I didn't leave my wife's side and never would. I would not hurt my wife. Come on!
Jamie: Would she hurt you? [Jamie laughs.]
Bobby: Yeah, she'll hit me.
Jamie: Let's .get back to the rumors that you all got into fights in Hawaii and Japan.
Bobby: We are always fighting. That's nobody else's business. We have arguments. I don't come to anybody else's home and talk about their arguments. If we have arguments, we have arguments. We're human. But as far as fighting and all that s#@t, naw. We ain't cut like that. Well, I know I ain't cut like that. As a man, to put my hands on a woman; that ain't being a man. And I'm d#@n sure a man.
Jamie: Does Whitney feel that you are very protective of her? Doesn't she feel safe with you?
Bobby: Yes. Very, very. I hope she does.
Jamie: She's there now?
Bobby: I think she went up in the front. The kids are just coming home from camp now: LaPrincia, Robert, and Bobbi Kris.
Jamie: How is my Bobbi Kris?
Bobby: She's good.
Jamie: And LaPrincia?
Bobby: They're all good. Everybody is good. They are bad as hell. They are not bad, but my two girls are like me. LaPrincia is the quiet side of me and Bobbi Kris is the wild side of me.
Jamie: I know Bobbi Kris is something else. She'll get you told in a minute. Bobby: Oh yeah, like her father. She is a lovable girl, though. That's my baby girl.
Jamie: Do you know that there was a discrepancy in the story? First there was a story that Whitney got cut on the rock and then there was a story about when she fell down.
Bobby: That's bulls#@t. I just told you what happened. You're getting it firsthand from the source. I didn't read the story, but they said that I hurt my wife on the trip. I was mad at the fact that they would say anything without at least calling us and finding out from us.
Jamie: Would you all have talked to them?
Bobby: Hell no. It's not their business. But at the same time, don't just write things, especially when we're the ones hurting. And plus, my wife was injured. They need to keep their mouth shut and stop writing [things] that they don't know about.
Jamie: Is this your fifth anniversary?
Bobby: Yes, it is. Jamie: How do you figure you guys have lasted this long? This is something I tell people all the time. "You do realize that Bobby and Whitney have been together five years. "And people were making bets at your wedding. And you know this, right?
Bobby: Yeah.
Jamie: How do you all feel about that? These are people you brought to your wedding as friends. Folks were making bets at your wedding? Why do you think you all have lasted?
Bobby: Because we put up with each other's s#@t. But there's a lot of things I put up with that they don't know about. There are a lot of things that she puts up with that people don't know about. They write about a lot of lies and they tend to make up stories because they don't have nothing to write about. I think if anybody would search for the truth, they would wonder why we're together. But we are still together.
Jamie: That's another thing I say to people, "Don't always think that Bobby's the bad guy. " I say, "Whitney is from the streets, too, kind of. When they say they've got something in common, they do. She's a little street gal, too.
Bobby: Mmm. Hmm. Right.
Jamie: How do you feel when you hear all the rumors about you and other women?
Bobby: I just wish I was that much of a player. If I was that good and could still be with my wife, I would be the greatest man on the planet earth.
Jamie: Why do people come out and say things? It's like you are picked on a lot. Is that that you feel?
Bobby: They haven't heard my music in a while and I guess they miss me as an artist, so they have nothing else to write about me and I guess they just choose to bring my name down. It's okay as long as they keep talking about me. I can drop music anytime I want.
Jamie: Now, so what about the drinking? How are you handling that? You went into rehab for drinking. Are you still drinking?
Bobby: Rehab for drinking and depression. I don't drink a lot like I used to. Between weed and beer, I was abusing it a little too much.
Jamie: Bobby, why were you depressed?
Bobby: Just a state of affairs with my business and my family and the talks, the write-ups about me. That started wearing on me just a little bit. And as a young man being in this [entertainment] business as long as I've been in this business, not having a chance to grow up outside of the business, I guess the business got to me a little bit and I fell in that old bag that a lot of young stars jump into. But I took time out earlier in my life to straighten out my s#@t and make sure at Bobby as a man will be all right later on down the line. God has definitely blessed me with the mind and the heart to just say "no" whenever I feel that it is time for me to slow down. And I was trying to get back to work. So, all that is minor.
Jamie: Do you think that Whitney has been a blessing in your life?
Bobby: Oh yes. Most definitely. It gave me a chance to look at myself from the outside. As an artist, we rarely get the chance to look at another artist and see ourselves and see what wrongs we do within the business and see what rights we could do or what we could do better. She has definitely been a blessing.
Jamie: How have you changed since the marriage? Did you think the marriage would be what it is?
Bobby: I didn't know what it would be. No one knows until you live it. It's all about going through the days together. And no matter whether you fight today or an hour ago, you never go to sleep with any pain on your mind. Even if you don't find the answer right then, you search for it.
Jamie: A lot of times people can not find the word "sorry." Now bear with me on this. A lot of people can not find the words to say, "I'm sorry, " or...
Bobby: Sometimes "sorry" is not going to do it. Sometimes you just have to say "sorry" to yourself. Sometimes you just have to accept it for doing it the wrong way. Sometimes a lot of things are just on your mind and you don't know how to tell the other person. Whatever the argument is about, if you're not comfortable about it, then nine times out of 10 times, the other person isn't either.
Jamie: To me, this represents some deep thinking, because the average guy will just walk out and slam the door. Now Whitney did tell me that you all talk. You all have conversations about things that go wrong.
Bobby: But I don't like to argue. I hate to argue. I'm the type of person that thinks about what to say before I say it. So if I say something, I mean it. I try to be right every time. If I say something, I take time out and think about it so that I won't be wrong when I do say it.
Jamie: Give me an example. Not that it has to be personal I know sometimes pride gets in the way.
Bobby: Yeah, pride is a big thing. But it takes a grownup to be able to swallow your pride.
Jamie: Does Whitney argue?
Bobby: She gets loud. And when she gets loud, I get louder. It's like, who's gonna win? Neither one of us because everybody else is gonna hear what we're talking about. So why argue? Just sit down and talk about it.
Jamie: Do you think you all will be together for the rest of your lives?
Bobby: Who knows how long the rest of our lives will be. We are together today and we are going to be together tomorrow and we plan on being together on the day after that. You know, you can only plan on being together as long as you are together. So we are together right now and we're going to be together as long as we can be, as long as we want to be together.
Jamie: What happened with the movie, I-95.
Bobby: I got to the airport. They called me two days before they wanted me to come film. I got the script and I was like, "Okay, I like it. When do we shoot?" They said, "In two days," and I said I'll try to be there. I was at the airport for about seven or eight hours, I missed the flight ... Well, one of the flights was canceled. I stayed at the airport for seven to eight hours...
Jamie: Were you signing autographs? I know you love to do that?
Bobby: Of course... So, then I just went home. Ed Lover was at the airport himself for about five hours. He left and said he'd catch the morning flight and I missed that flight. I just didn't get up in time. I got there maybe two minutes before the flight took off. From that point, one of the casting people told my people something and I didn't like the way they said it and it just went back and forth and I ended up not doing the movie.
Jamie: I called the movie folks because I wanted to find out about the movie, and they said Bobby Brown is supposed to be in this movie and we do not know where he is. He's like AWOL. They asked would I please find Bobby. So I'm on my way to Los Angeles and my girlfriend picks me up and I said, "Girl, I need Tommy's number because they want Bobby. [Bobby's brother, Tommy Brown, managed Bobby.] So I literally called Tommy on my way from the airport. I told Tommy that they wanted you down at this movie. So I gave Tommy their phone number and they said, "Okay, Bobby is going to go."
Bobby: Tommy hasn't been handling my affairs for some time now.
Jamie: I didn't know that. Who handles your affairs now?
Bobby: Either me or you can get to me through Nippy, Inc.
Jamie: What about your acting now? You did a great job in Thin Line Between Love and Hate which I never got a chance to tell you. Well, everybody thinks so. Bobby: Thank you, love. I'm doing a movie called Liberty City, shooting in September. It's a project in Miami. I play the lead role as a court-appointed attorney and I'm trying to get the gangs to come together. It's a great role. Jamie: This is a great role for you. They've always had you playing the same old "player" and people don't look at you as really acting cause they think that's what you do.
Bobby: They think that's what I do.
Jamie: Who is producing the movie?
Bobby: Right now it's an independent film. We're trying to get distribution for it. Hopefully Universal will pick it up.
Jamie: Who's going to be in the movie with you?
Bobby: Mekhi Pfeiffer, Coolio is doing the soundtrack, Glen Plummer, Idalis from MTV and Eddie Griffin is going to do a cameo.
Jamie: What about you mooning everybody?
Bobby: What? On the [NewEdition] tour? The guys got to understand that Bobby Brown is still Bobby Brown. When I was with New Edition I didn't moon anybody when I did New Edition songs. [Jamie and Bobby laugh.] I did it when I did my stuff. [Bobby sings a line from his song.] "I bust my ass for you from 9 to 5..." The guys never asked me to top mooning the crowd.
Jamie: They didn't?
Bobby: And it wasn't me mooning the crowd, it was me mooning the press. If anybody listened to what I was saying on stage before I pulled down my pants, they would realize what I was actually doing.
Jamie: They said it was like mooning the crowd.
Bobby: No, it says "I bust my ass for you from 9-5" and then I pulled down my pants. Those are the words from one of my songs.
Jamie: Whitney came out with you sometimes?
Bobby: Yeah.
Jamie: You all do that so you can be together more?
Bobby: Oh yeah. You've got to spend time together and away from each other. Jamie: What about when you all were on the road and supposedly you went running out of the bus over to a farmhouse? Remember that story?
Bobby: No. I went crazy on the tour. I went running down the street because I went running down the street. I was trying to catch another [New Edition tour] bus. I was just crazy that day. I was upset. We were arguing, but not arguing. Jamie: So, you were just showing out, then?
Bobby: No. I was just crazy that day. I was fed up with the tour. I was tired of being on that tour. I wasn't getting paid... didn't get paid. We never got paid. Jamie: Why didn't you get paid?
Bobby: Because New Edition ain't s#@t. I don't like the group and I will never be in that group again.
Jamie: Bobby! What happened?
Bobby: I just don't like the way they work.
Jamie: My understanding is that they thought you were pulling the group apart, not showing up for concerts.
Bobby: I didn't show up to one show that I can remember, and that was when we were at the L.A. Forum.
Jamie: Right. That's when they said that you and Keith Sweat [who was on the New Edition tour] fought.
Bobby: See how they make stuff up? Because me and Keith, we didn't have any problems. I probably talked to Keith more than I talked to anyone else on that tour.
Jamie: You should be a loner, anyway.
Bobby: Yes I should. I need to be alone. [Bobby laughs.] I can't be in a group. I just can't do it.
Jamie: Do you [and New, Edition] talk to each other at all?
Bobby: Well, no. We didn't talk to each other before, either. Ralph [Tresvant of New Edition] and I don't talk that much, either. I guess everybody is against me. I don't know what I could have done to them.
Jamie: Do you think you have a temper, Bobby?
Bobby: I have a really bad temper, but I think it takes folks to ignite me. I've calmed it down as much as I can. I was born with a temper. My kids have quick tempers. I won't disrespect someone unless they disrespect me first. I did not cuss out the band. This is what I heard. The band was the only one that understood me in that whole New Edition thing.
Jamie: How come you all did not get paid?
Bobby: I don't know. You'll have to ask Brooke Payne [New Edition's manager]. Jamie: But why would you stay on the tour if you did not get paid?
Bobby: To me it wasn't about all that. It was about my love for the group, and about me being a part, again, of something that I created. Hoping to broaden it. When you're working with five other men and they don't have the same mentality of the group... everybody had something else they wanted to do. I didn't. I put my album on hold to do this. Nobody wants to grow in that group. They talk about me not coming to rehearsals. I came to enough rehearsals for me.
Jamie: [Laughs.]
Bobby: I didn't miss a step. It's not like they wanted me there to have an input in anything.
Jamie: Is there jealousy?
Bobby: I run across a lot of that.
Jamie: Who are your friends?
Bobby: God and my kids.
Jamie: So that's who you hang out with?
Bobby: These days everybody is all about money. Who got this and who got that. I've worked hard all my life. I never look at what somebody else has and say that I want that.
Jamie: I've never known you to be jealous.
Bobby: Well, thank you. I'm not that type of person.
Jamie: I ran into your old stylist, Cyndi Wheat, the other day. She is now a stylist for MTV She just came up to me and said, "I know that Bobby is in a lot of trouble, but I love him. " A lot of people come up to me, people who have worked around you, and say "People don't know him, but he did this for me. " Your makeup artist told me how you made her your makeup artist when she was just starting out and how loyal you are. Even though you were cussing me out on KKBT [A radio station in Los Angeles]! Tommy [Bobby's brother] called me up saying, "Jamie, Bobby is mad at you because he heard that you were on the radio talking about him and Ralph [Tresvant trying to get into a club in Los Angeles called Peanuts. " That was not my story. Let me explain something... Bobby: You know what? We were not trying to get in there. Faizon and a few other guys were trying to get us to go in there.
Jamie: So Tommy knew to call me, and when I got on the air the deejay said, "So Jamie, what you got to S about this? Bob was doing this with a White girl in the car.
Bobby: Aw, please.
Jamie: And that you were saying, "My wife is Whitney Houston."
Bobby: I wouldn't even say that because I don't like people calling my wife Whitney Houston. Her name is Whitney Brown. I get pissed over that, but that's her stage name. But if anyone walks up to us and says "Mrs. Houston" and you're standing in front of me and my wife, that's like slapping me in the face. So I don't even talk that way. This is my wife. And I'm not a prejudiced person. But if I'm going to cheat on my wife or doing anything, it's going to be a sister. Believe me! [There was a long period of silence. Then Jamie and Bobby both burst out laughing.]
Jamie: Well, you know they always come to me and say, "You like Bobby Brown, Jamie. You take up for him. "
Bobby: You don't take up for me. I take up for my d#mn self. [Bobby chuckles.] Jamie: Right. I said I don't take up for that Negro. [Jamie laughs.] Well Bobby, they say that your relationship [with Whitney] is raw passion and not love. Bobby: What? That our relationship is raw passion? Not love? That's a lot of d#@n raw passion. Five years of it?
Jamie: Give me some of that passion.
Bobby: Give me some of that passion. [Jamie and Bobby both laugh.]
Jamie: What's the best thing about your marriage?
Bobby: Being able to sit back and laugh at the stories. Just to know. Being able to sit back and laugh at s#@t like that. It gives us more of a togetherness; just to know that they're talking about us like that.
Jamie: Why are you two so important? Why do they talk about you so much? Bobby: Two Black entertainers, both at the top of your field, as far as her being the top female artist and me being able to be the top male artist that could ever live. I could surpass Michael Jackson, you know. His position is definitely open right now. [Bobby chuckles.] So, I think I'm next in line to becoming the top selling male, if not being that already, as far as album sales are concerned. The Don't Be Cruel album was 15, 16 million. The Bobby album was like seven, eight million. I have a track record for multiplatinum sales.
Jamie: What do you think this next album's gonna do?
Bobby: I don't want to jinx it. I just hope the album does well.
Jamie: Do you have some new moves?
Bobby: Come on! I'm a creator. You think I'm going to let this go now?
Jamie: What is the worst thing about your marriage?
Bobby: I think it's that we don't spend enough time together. Now if you ask my wife, she'll probably say it's the way I perform. [Bobby chuckles.] She only wants me to perform for her. She likes to see me perform, but she wants to be the only one to see it.
Jamie: Tell Ms. "Negress" that she's just too selfish. She only wants you to perform for her? Well, that's great. Now, does she ever coach you on singing? Bobby: We are basically bigheaded about our talent with each other. We don't let anyone see it. We listen to each other. We learn from each other.
Jamie: Do you teach her how to dance? Bobby: Yeah. She watches me. I listen to her.
Jamie: What about Bobbi Kris and LaPrincia?
Bobby: They teach both of us. [Bobby laughs.] They do everything.
Jamie: You know Bobbi Kris really has a mind of her own.
Bobby: You're telling me. I'm waiting for them to come up here and jump on me.
Jamie: How old is she? Bobby: She's 4.
Jamie: Is she still sucking that thumb?
Bobby: No, I got her on carrots. She eats a lot of carrots because she thinks every bite she takes makes her eyes prettier.
Jamie: Is that what you told her?
Bobby: Yes. She says, "Daddy, look," and she lowers them and acts like she's sexy.
Jamie: Tell me some secrets about parenting. How do you balance between Bobbi Kris and your other children?
Bobby: I don't treat them differently. People think I have babies by a lot of women. It's actually Whitney and Kim that have my babies. Before my wife, I was in a relationship for almost I5 years. People tend to call my kids illegitimate. Those kids are legit and they are mine. I've claimed them since day one. I've raised them since day one. There's nothing I wouldn't do for my children. I treat them the same. Neither one of them gets more than the other. My kids have been traveling with me since they were born. My oldest boy, Landon, has been with me constantly.
Jamie: He is so beautiful. Tell me something about LaPrincia?
Bobby: LaPrincia is Bobbi Kris' big sister, but she's my baby girl. My first girl. So she knows how special she is. But to me, as "Father," as they call me, they are little actresses.
Jamie: Are you and Whitney going to perform together?
Bobby: Yes. We're in the making of planning a tour for next year. We started the company, Brownhouse. We just did [the made for TV movie] Cinderella and we're writing scripts together. We are going to get into working together and put our marriage on hold and broaden our relationship.
Jamie: That's like Babyface and Tracey Edmonds. They did Soul Food together. She basically produced it and spent time with him in Europe. She worked 16-hour days and Babyface would just sit back in amazement about how she handled the business. They work together and they develop other projects and other talent. That's what you and Whitney want to do?
Bobby: We've been doing it all along, but it's just that I'm going to come out more with putting my name on projects and things like that. I've tended to stay in the background of everything that had to do with business when we both worked together.
Jamie: A lot of men's ego wouldn't let them be put aside.
Bobby: I look at it this way: I like power. Power to me is not money or all those material things that people always equate it to. Power to me is having a strong relationship that will last. And that's like the relationship my mom and dad had. You have to build a strong relationship. And the only way I know to do that is like my mom and dad. And that is to be there for the other person and to let them be an equal... A lot of men just wouldn't be able to do some of the things my wife does. She makes her own deals. There's a couple of you all [women] that I look up to. It's hard for me to look up to a man apart from my father and my savior.
Jamie: Do you look up to Whitney?
Bobby: I look up to women. Period.
Jamie: You are not intimidated by them at all? Bobby: No. I grew up with four sisters, four aunts, a mother, and I have two girls. I see the best in them. Jamie: Whitney is a good deal-maker and negotiator?
Bobby: I am. She is a good listener and she knows when to wait and she knows when to go.
Jamie: Isn't Robyn Crawford part of the decision making?
Bobby: For the most part, the final word comes out of this household. What's best for my family.
Jamie: You are really growing up. You're talking differently. What do you tell the kids about negative publicity?
Bobby: What's fiction is not what's fact.
Jamie: Are you happy?
Bobby: Today? Yes. [Bobby laughs.]
Jamie: Are you moody?
Bobby: I'm very moody.
Jamie: Do you think that you will ever have to go back into rehab?
Bobby: No. Never ever again. It was very educational to me. I got a chance to learn about addiction. You can't just look at addiction as being a substance. Jamie: That was really confining for you, right?
Bobby: No, actually it was educational.
Jamie: How was it educational?
Bobby: I got to learn about addiction, you know. You could be addicted to anything. Like you're addicted to talking and writing. It is a part of addiction. I am addicted to performing and singing. Addiction is broad. You can be addicted to love. [Whitney] said that to me last night. She said, "You're addicted to love." Jamie: I think you are, too. And she is, too. I think Whitney will right the devil himself to keep her marriage going.
Bobby: I think we both would. But, I don't want to plan no future.
Jamie: Whitney and Kim are the only one's that you have children by?
Bobby: Whitney, Kim and Maleka. I've been in relationships all my life. Maleka has Landon and she's married to Carl Payne.
Jamie: What is the most important thing you have learned so far?
Bobby: Respect for others. Yes. I've learned that respect for others is the most important thing. I've felt so disrespected by so many people.
Jamie: How do you feel about the media?
Bobby: The media makes me my money. But it is also the worst weapon in the world. It could damage people's lives. It's like a double-edged sword.
Jamie: When are you going to cook for me? Bobby: We're having a cookout at the end of this month.
Jamie: When Whitney was getting stitched up, did it hurt?
Bobby: Yeah. I had to hold her legs and her hands down.
Jamie: Oh my, gosh! How many stitches she get?
Bobby: I think she got three stitches. She's okay, now. It's a little scar. She calls herself "Scarface."
Jamie: Let me say hi to her.
Bobby: She went up to the front. Hold on, let me see if I can get her.
Whitney: This is the real Mrs. Brown!
Jamie: I didn't like the idea of that accident hurting you.
Whitney: It hurt me, too. How do you think I felt?
Jamie: Well, I didn't like it hurting you. And I'm the real Mrs. Brown. [Jamie laughs.]
Whitney: You are not the real Mrs. Brown!
Jamie: I missed you at the Cinderella shoot. Whitney: It was a beautiful production. Everything went well. Everybody worked so well, and I mean everyone gave 2,000 percent. It was really a great thing.
Jamie: How's your face?
Whitney: My face is fine.
Jamie: Do you call yourself "Scarface?"
Whitney: Yes, I do. [Whitney laughs.] It's going to give me some other kind of character, but you really can't see it because it's like in the back of my cheekbone area.
Jamie: So you all weren't fighting or anything like that? You just slipped? Whitney: No, child. I was sitting there eating lunch with my sister-in-law. Jamie: [Your sister-in-law] Donna was there?
Whitney: Yeah, my sister-in-law and my brother were on the boat with me. And, I got up and me and the boat didn't make it. [Whitney chuckles.] And I went into the table, put my hands into the table and cracked my plate and came up on the plate and cut my face.
Jamie: Well, how did they come up with you cutting your face on a rock when you were swimming? Who said that? PMK? [The public relations firm that represents Whitney.]
Whitney: I don't know. That's definitely not what I told them when I talked to them. That's definitely not the story.
Jamie: So, what are you doing now? Are you resting? Whitney: Yes, I am. I'm at home. I just got back from Florida. My birthday was this weekend. My husband and I spent the weekend all by ourselves. We put everyone out of the house.
Jamie: Did you run through the house naked?
Whitney: Well now, Jamie, we did a whole bunch of that stuff. We did a whole lot of running around here. We had a really nice time. It was very, very, very nice.
Jamie: Do you think Bobby is protective of you?
Whitney: Yes. That's one of the things I love most about him-because he's protective. I think more of our African-American men should be protective of their women. Really, I like that. I feel secure that this man loves me. And I know that.
Jamie: I feel he loves you, too!
Whitney: I know that! I have no doubts about that whatsoever. In marriage, there's growth and there are times that make things tighter and closer. We got a good thing going.
Jamie: Why do you think your marriage has lasted five years, when so many other marriages have come and gone?
Whitney: And we were the ones that were supposed to come and go! Ain't that right. Because it's real, that's why. I'm in love with him and he's in love with me and ain't no funny stuff going on and I wish they'd stop it.
Jamie: How are you all going to deal with that?
Whitney: It's cool because we've kind of gotten through it. We got through it. We laugh about it and we straighten it out by ourselves, just by being who we are. And we don't try to convince nobody of no s#@t.
Jamie: They said that you were fighting. That Bobby was driving all wild on the water and you said he was trying to kill you?
Whitney: Oh no! You mean to tell me we got a psychopath on our hands? I mean, what is going on? You know, we were children that were raised properly. Sometimes we get a little happy, you know. You know Bobby's expressive. You know how expressive he can be.
Jamie: I know how expressive you can be. [Jamie laughs.]
Whitney: Absolutely, and he more than I am. And sometimes I'm more than he is. You know there was no funny stuff going on. I basically had an awful accident. Bobby fights men. Bobby don't beat on women. That's punk s#@t. To him, that's really beneath a man's standards as far as he's concerned. That's really beneath anything that any man would do. That's how he feels about it. He likes to fight men. Bobby don't like to hit women. He likes a challenge. My husband is all "boy." He won't do s#@t like that.
Jamie: When are you going back in the studio to record?
Whitney: Me and Faith [Evans] are getting together this weekend. We're going to get together and do some stuff. I love Faith. Faith is my homegirl. I love her.
Jamie: Did you see Faith's article in Sister 2 Sister?
Whitney: No, I didn't.
Jamie: And then you won't do the magazine [Sister2 Sister]?
Whitney: Listen, I've been doing the fairy godmother part for "Cinderella." So don't bother me about no magazine! Was the Faith article great?
Jamie: Yeah. And we also did Tupac's wife...
Whitney: That one I loved! It was great. It was good that you did that. You're doing exceptionally well, darling.
Jamie: Can you give me an endorsement?
Whitney: Girl I love Sister 2 Sister, you know that. And, it gives straight information, not just gossip. And I like that!
Jamie: Well, thank you. I really appreciate it. But listen, let me speak to Bobby because you know he's my baby.
Whitney: Listen. He said he went to eat and that he'll talk to you later.
Jamie: What? He left me with you by myself'?
Whitney: He left you and me on the phone.
Jamie: Well, I want you to be okay. When he told me that he had to hold your legs down when you were getting stitched up, I almost cried because I felt that. But it what are you most thankful for?
Whitney: My family. I'm thankful that I have the support system. Someone that I support and supports me. Someone that loves me, and I can love back. Truly... you know, one-on-one. I love that and that we have that beautiful little girl who is the light of our lives. She is something. She is really something special.
Jamie: What's the best thing about your marriage?
Whitney: That we're friends.
Jamie: What's the worst thing?
Whitney: That we are friends. [Whitney laughs.] That we know each other so well.
Jamie: Whitney, do you know how to cook?
Whitney: I don't know how to cook s#@t, Jamie. I told you my husband's the cook of the family.
Jamie: Well, what do you do?
Whitney: Got d#@n it, I take care of things. I take care of my husband and my baby [Whitney laughs.]
Jamie: How's Daddy?
Whitney: Daddy's good. He had a little circulation problem. We're working on his heart.
Jamie: How's Mommy?
Whitney: Mommy is good. Is your family good?
Jamie: Yes. Thanks for asking.
Whitney: Bless you.
Jamie: Who is going to be on this next album besides Faith?
Whitney: This is Faith's album that I'm working on. It's not mine.
Jamie: Why did you decide to do that?
Whitney: Faith and I became friends during [Waiting to] Exhale, and then we became closer during my album, Preacher's Wife. And then after [Faith's husband] Biggie's death, we got close. And now we're really close because she's from Newark, I'm from Newark, we're both married women and trying to raise our children properly. We have things in common, and I love Faith's voice. I love the way Faith writes and arranges. We have a lot in common.
Jamie: I love Faith. You never get jealous of other women, do you?
Whitney: No, because I'm thankful that I have what I have. I don't want anyone else's stuff. I just want to work with people and enhance things. That gets me off. I don't get off by being egotistical.
Jamie: How were things with Brandy? [Whitney chose Brandy to star in "Cinderella."]
Whitney: Wonderful. She's just Cinderella. Brandy is truly a real princess. She's a sweetheart.
Jamie: How did you feel when Betty Shabazz died?
Whitney: I just felt like, 'My God." What is it that just happened in life when people call destiny, 'destiny.' You have a man that was murdered and a woman who was burned to death. And then these children have legacies of the parents, you know, 'My father was shot to death, my mother was burned to death.' I think about Attallah [Shabazz] and her sisters and I am so proud of them and I have so much compassion for them. And Attallah and I are friends. I can't understand that pain because I haven't gone through it, but I can feel it for them.
[Whitney and Jamie then started making personal plans when Bobby came back in the room.]
Whitney: My husband is fussing at me. He said you're getting two interviews for one.
Jamie: What? Tell him I'm Jamie. What is he talking about?
[Whitney tells Bobby, "She said she's Jamie. What are you talking about."] Bobby: [In the background.] Sh#t. As long as I'm on the cover.
Jamie: Tell him he will be on the cover.
[Then Jamie and Whitney continued making plans. Actually, this interview didn't end properly, it just faded away. As Porky Pig would say, "Aahbee, ahbee, ahbeee, that's all, folks.]