Outraged over the National Enquirer Whitney Houston casket photo?
My coffee table.
Are you outraged over the National Enquirer’s cover photo of Whitney Houston lying in repose?
It’s generated a great deal of criticism, but it’s not a new idea.
The photo on the right is the National Enquirer from Sept. 6, 1977, showing Elvis in his open casket. I bought it at a silent auction for 20 bucks at a charity event last year. I keep it on my coffee table, to keep me humble and reflective.
When John Lennon died in 1980, the National Enquirer was back with more necro journalism, featuring the slain Lennon’s final image on its front cover. This time the photo was in color, and was a closer shot of Lennon’s face, but the layout was otherwise very similar to the Elvis shot, which was in black and white. Even the text blocks about “The Untold Story” and “The Last Picture” were identical. Makes you wonder if they had a celeb death template at the ready.
These covers have much in common with the Whitney Houston open casket photo that the National Enquirer just ran. The current cover’s headline says “Whitney: The Last Photo!” while the others say “The Last Picture.” (Coincidentally the Elvis cover teases to a story on how to be more creative.)
Celebrity open casket photos aren’t common (thank goodness) but not terribly rare, either.
AP photo
When James Brown died a few years ago, photos of his open casket were kind of hard to avoid. Images of his final viewings ran in numerous publications.
The hardest working man in show business kept a busy tour schedule even days after he’d gone on to glory, with viewings at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and then a huge public home going service held in the Augusta venue that bears his name.
More than 8,000 people filed past the late Godfather of Soul when his carefully coiffed remains were laid out in the James Brown Arena. Celebrity guests included Michael Jackson, and Brown’s widow Tomi Rae performed, serenading her late husband’s body. It was a memorable event.
But back to Houston. The National Enquirer, never a stranger to controversy, is taking quite a bit of flack for running the unauthorized photo from Houston’s funeral. (Actually it’s thought to have been taken during the funeral home viewing, not the home going service).
This Detroit Free Press article notes that the National Enquirer publisher says the photo was “beautiful,” but that the decision to publish it has been criticized by a number of other media outlets. And questions are swirling. Who took the photo? How did they spirit a camera into the service? Did they get paid? Scratch that. How much did they get paid?
My point: this is nothing new.
- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com
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278 comments Add your comment
Ebbette
February 24th, 2012
4:34 pm
The funeral was webcast yet there are problems with photos that are in good taste. Doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m from New Orleans and even though I’ve never been to one, many would probably be shocked at the funerals you can see there!
RL
February 24th, 2012
4:39 pm
Celebrities will be photographed in their coffins as long as there is money to be made and a public with prurient interests that create a market for such photos. The Enquirer would have paid almost anything for a similar picture of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. So how did the family avoid this? She was embalmed and placed in her casket in her New York penthouse, thus ensuring that her body was never out of sight of a trusted family member. The embalmer, I’ve heard, was searched going in and coming out. Most celebrities can afford this elaborate defense of their loved one and they should all avail themselves of this service.
RL
February 24th, 2012
4:46 pm
The respondent “Muffin” epitomizes our lack of sensitivity and our inability to feel shame. She is a perfect example of the kind of individual that has made a rag like the Enquirer what it is today, a temple and shrine to Opprobrium. Obviously the feelings of Ms.
Houston’s family and close friends mean nothing to people like this. An the issue of each of us facing our own mortality is a separate consideration having nothing to do with the shame that ought to attach to 1. the person who took and sold the photo, 2. the NAtional Enquirer (for being even lower on the human food chain than I had thought possible), and 3. “readers” like Muffin who make the whole filthy enterprise possible.
shut up
February 24th, 2012
4:58 pm
die so I can take a picture of you butt heads
B
February 24th, 2012
4:58 pm
Oh come on put this story of her ill fated but not surprising death to rest, sick of hearing about it and the media has gone way above the necessary coverage, why do we have to put these people up on a pedestal all the time … and the fact that NJ choose to fly the flag at half staff was too much, that should be reserved for military and government officials like it always has …. so what’s the big deal about a photo (it’s nothing new), obviously the person who took it and sold it to the NE had no respect … we have more important stuff to discuss in this country such as jobs, the deficit, the homeless, paying too much for gas and getting rid of Obama than talking about a drug addict who killed herself ….. I’m done ….
Whitney Houston in coffin: Funeral home outraged over National Enquirer photo | Arts | National Post
February 24th, 2012
5:05 pm
[...] not the first time the Enquirer has published a post-mortem photo on its cover: As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution points out, the tabloid also featured photos of Elvis Presley and John Lennon on its cover — the former [...]
cwilli
February 24th, 2012
5:07 pm
I wanted to see her if I could have gone to NJ I would have to her if possible. She was beautiful she looked like a sleeping angle how could someone want to keep that away from her public. She was in the public eye her fans wanted to see her plain and simple. I also understand the family wanting it to be more intimate and not disclose exactly what was going on it was done for a reason. what ever the reason may she now rest in peace I could excepted with or without the picture. I don’t consider it to be gross or anything like that.
The Carnivore
February 24th, 2012
5:11 pm
Open casket pictures are neither shocking nor controversial (Emmitt Till aside). It was and is standard to have open caskets, and for pictures to be taken.
The problem now is that the weak kneed liberal media can’t handle a little reality, and so they create a controversy out of nothing. Open casket pics are standard – your wussy reaction to them is not standard.
Stupid stuff like this is how a once-powerful country like ours becomes a little weaker every day.
JMH
February 24th, 2012
5:20 pm
Whitney Houston looked beautiful. Viewing the dearly departed remains for many is truely a way to bring closure. Like it or not, millions of fans wondered how she looked. Whether we admit it or not, we wanted to know. Now we do. There is simply no way that these photos would not have been taken unless her mother and daughter decided that they would be the only ones to view her remains. Again she looked gorgeous. Thank God for the sake of her family! She looked at peace. Thank God for her soul!
View the photos if you like. If not, don’t. This isn’t something worth making issue of. I am happy that I had the opportunity to view her body and to know that her family could find great peace in the beauty of her contenance.
darb
February 24th, 2012
5:24 pm
When will we be through with whitney being dead? She may not be in pain any longer, but she continues to cause me pain. Get over it everybody.
Captain Midnight
February 24th, 2012
5:29 pm
Of course people are curious. After all, “we’ve just lost the greatest entertainer that ever lived.”
Invasion of Privacy
February 24th, 2012
5:35 pm
The family asked for privacy and it “should not” have been invaded by anyone!
dconerya
February 24th, 2012
5:50 pm
I for one. Please don’t hate me everybody ,,, but I felt privledged to see the copy of the National Enquirer and…Whitney looked beautiful. AS a life long fan of Whitney’s always wishing her well, always on “team Whitney” pardon my improper grammer just going off of quick tht etc. I watched the WHOLE funeral procession and I was very touched to see Whitneys photo. It got rid of a bunvh of “here say” that would have plagued us the fans, who loved her so NOBODY can say that Whitney looked this or that. SHE LOOKED GORGEOUS. She had that purple dress on she liked makeup FLAWLESS. I mean, yea she was decked out in jewels just like a princess should be decked out. But I doubt that she was buried in those jewels usually the person puts in their will and it naturally supposed so, that the jewelry be switched. This usually happens as the family is alone with the body as the last ppl to leave the body. Then the undertaker will be instructed to “”remove and replace” certain jewelry. Its kinda without having to say.
Lainey
February 24th, 2012
5:54 pm
So the family is outraged over this huh? I think she looks pretty damn good, and I wonder why the family never got “outraged” over some of the pictures taken of her while alive looking all strung out on dope….makeup a complete mess…eyes barely open like a true, full blown dope head!! Why didn’t those pictures outrage the family enough to have Whitney baker acted or something….she might have lived a little longer!! A junkie is a junkie…whether they live in a mansion or under a bridge!! Her voice was completely gone thanks to no one but herself…she’d been boo’d offstage because she had NO talent any longer…and is her family now proud of themselves for not making her straighten her dope head ass out?! Give me a break…the only way she could have been more at fault for her own death was to hold a gun in her hand and pull the trigger!!!! She pretty much spit in the face of God after he gave her such a wonderful gift as far as I’m concerned.
shawn
February 24th, 2012
6:01 pm
@Invasion of Privacy – how in the hell can the family ask for privacy when they streamed the damn funeral over the internet for the WORLD to see?
JB
February 24th, 2012
6:01 pm
Double Sick Crackers —- I agree with you SIA.
TJ
February 24th, 2012
6:01 pm
FAKE OUTRAGE….the family took the pic to make a quick 250k till the estate is settle.
blkshepherd
February 24th, 2012
6:06 pm
Hey Kim Z with the Package(God Only knows of What.. pray tell)
Would it be asking too much if you BITE ME just one more time? If you want to re-write that feel free still means the same thing any way you write it.AnyWho,
as I stated. Its a lovely picture of Whitney and AGAIN..the family, and others can stand on their HEADS..its a done deal the picture is out there.. Whitney is gone. Now if I can just Flush Kim the package of shit down the toliet.I dont ask for much dear lord but PLEASE GIVE US BACK WHITNEY WE WILL GIVE YOU KIM Z and her Package!
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February 24th, 2012
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[...] casket pic is nothing new for the tabloid; check out this interesting review of the Enquirer’s other gruesome [...]
blkshepherd
February 24th, 2012
6:10 pm
Thank you Lainey SOME ONE IS PAYING ATTENTION and NOT ASLEEP.I said the same thing you said in different words.where was the Outrage when the pictures of her looking like a zombie on crack?
A Zombie on Crack hmmm..she still looked better than Kim Z and her Package. Hey Kim could you BITE me just one more time?
Cynthia
February 24th, 2012
6:13 pm
All you people who are outraged at the picture of Whitney…It looks so much better than the way whe looked on E-news…please….she’s dead…she doesn’t care anyway…why should you pretend to be morraly outraged? Hippocrits…Like I said…Whitney don’t care no mo…
Lainey
February 24th, 2012
6:18 pm
Shawn….LOL….I asked myself that very same question!! From the moment her body was loaded on Tyler Perry’s private jet, the family ‘pre’ announced what the game plan was gonna be!!!! Why the hell didn’t they arrange a ‘decoy’ casket and fake plan if they were so hell bent on privacy!!!! Can’t you just see the family sitting around talking….”now I want all this to be private…but make sure it’s put on national television”….how freakin stupid is that!!!
Lorne
February 24th, 2012
6:22 pm
Frankly, I feel strongly that the Whitney Houston Coffin Picture was taken by the funeral home staff and sold to the Enquirer for money, that is a damn shame.
Lainey
February 24th, 2012
6:26 pm
thanks blkshepherd ……I can’t wrap my head around the stupidity of some of these people wanting to keep Whitney on such a pedistool. They need to face reality not immortalize a damn junkie!! I read years ago that her drug habit was around $4,700 per day…..and they want the world to respect someone like that!!!
Ashe Whole
February 24th, 2012
6:30 pm
Well – theres this thing. Its called Public Record and its been trampled on in years past. Honestly, Autopsy photos are supposed to be accessible by law, so a casket photo is nothing. Maybe closure for many fans.
MICHAEL COREY
February 24th, 2012
6:42 pm
THATS A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE AND I THINK THEY SHOULD SHOW ALL STARS DEAD TO GIVE THE FANS A FINAL GOOD BYE TOO YES SHE WAS A STAR AND NOT EVEN THE FAMILY SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE THAT FROM HER EVEN IN DEATH http://stores.ebay.com/a1giftsplus
Lainey
February 24th, 2012
6:43 pm
Moment of truth everbody……in this horiffic economy of our paychecks not being enough to pay our bills let alone put a couple of dollars in the bank…..what would we have done if given the opportunity. I’d have taken as many damn pictures as I could….and I’d have felt guilty over all the ‘outrage’ from some of you just long enough for my ass to get to the bank with the check!!!!!! And any of you that say you wouldn’t have done it too…..I’m calling you a bold faced liar!!!!
One Who Knows
February 24th, 2012
7:40 pm
Our fambly always takes pictures of the laid out relatives! Its the best most of them have ever looked!
Doris M
February 24th, 2012
7:50 pm
What’s the big problem? Black people have always taken pictures of their dead. It’s not disrespectful in any way. Since the general public could not attend the funeral and view the body, a photo is the next best thing. I agree with another blogger who stated the family had no problems with Whitney being photographed while strung out on drugs so why the outrage with a photo that shows her as resting in peace. I think we have bigger problems in the world to deal with; we should move on.
GrannyCares
February 24th, 2012
7:52 pm
Yes — the picture of the open casket was in poor taste. That said, where was the outrage when Ms. Houston was killing herself with drugs and alcohol? Where was the outrage over the course of YEARS when Ms. Houston’s appearance; her voice; her personality; and her cognitive skills were deteriorating? Oh — we can voice our disgust over the photos of the open casket now to, perhaps, make us feel a bit better. But, if it is so important during her death, where was our collective outrage while she was alive?
Jeffery J
February 24th, 2012
7:55 pm
i would not expect anything less from this rag of a paper, and the morons who read it.
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KimZ'sPackage
February 24th, 2012
8:10 pm
Why didn’t they lay her to rest next to MLK and Coretta? She is that VALUABLE to the Black Culture right?
Martha
February 24th, 2012
8:25 pm
Whitney was a public figure. Death does not cancel this. Who cares if her pic in her casket is posted on a magazine, tv, newspaper, etc? Since she has been buried for almost a week, can we let this be the last Whitney news for a while? Let her RIP.
Cilla M, Atlanta,Ga
February 24th, 2012
8:28 pm
Everyone want 2 talk about her addiction: or being a drug addict,how did she died? was it drug related. these question should have been asked before she died. (Only GOD…. know when our time has come too and end). No one reach out too her before death about drugs(including fans)…. so please do not judge her now. God will attend too all her needs and addication.
W.H. U R 4V N MY HEART!!!! RIP
KimZ'sPackage
February 24th, 2012
8:33 pm
Forget Whitney and watch Tuskegee Airmen on TVOne. Those are the Type of People the AA culture should celebrate and emulate.
Pago Flyer
February 24th, 2012
8:40 pm
We didn’t know she died!?
ANDREA
February 24th, 2012
8:48 pm
THIS WAS NOT A PUBLIC VIEWING…THEREFORE PICTURES TAKEN SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOR PERSONAL REASONS OF THE TAKER…NOT MONETARY….HER MOTHER SHARED THE SERVICES WITH THE WORLD…WHAT MORE DO PEOPLE WANT..???? VERY DISTASTEFUL…
ddawn
February 24th, 2012
8:52 pm
who cares,i would take the pic if i could she’s dead.People who want to be famous & want there privacy NOT happening.She was a crack head anyway one less druggy
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February 24th, 2012
8:53 pm
[...] is nothing new for the tabloid; check out this interesting review of the Enquirer’s other gruesome [...]
KimZ'sPackage
February 24th, 2012
8:55 pm
Can Tyler Perry get Whitney’s corpse in the new Madea Movie? She can’t act any worse than she did in The Bodyguard.
phil
February 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
Fire FG!!
Avg American
February 24th, 2012
9:29 pm
All this jibba jabba about this washed up crack smokin’ coke snortin’ pill popping she-boon. Let’s move on people…more important things in the world. We are ALL gonna die. At least cracky died doing what she loved…RIP cracky
Andrea Rouda
February 24th, 2012
9:37 pm
What’s the big deal? She was just an ordinary person!
chttp://arouda.blogspot.com/2012/02/whitney-houston.html
mike
February 24th, 2012
9:38 pm
lame a$$ KIMzspackage
mike
February 24th, 2012
9:43 pm
get a life avg americam boom
Eddie
February 24th, 2012
9:44 pm
Dear Whitney so many have forgotten the words REST IN PEACE. You are now in Paradise. If this picture is real all I can say is that you look Beautiful and very much at Peace and I thank you God………..Love & Peace & Happiness
Vernita Hart
February 24th, 2012
10:06 pm
Whitney looked beautiful and at peace. Blame the person that took the picture and sold it for financial gain. Don’t forget the paper is a business, they can only make money people buy what they are selling. RIP Whitney and my prayers to her daughter Bobbi.
Vernita Hart
February 24th, 2012
10:07 pm
Whitney looked beautiful and at peace. Blame the person that took the picture and sold it for financial gain. Don’t forget the paper is a business, they can only make money if people buy what they are selling. RIP Whitney and my prayers to her daughter Bobbi.