- R&B Divas began as a tribute to music icon Whitney Houston
- TV One's hit reality show has tapped Former X Factor finalist Stacy Francis to join the LA cast
- Houston and Francis were involved in an altercation at a pre-Grammy party
- Stacy says they fought over Whitney's boyfriend, hip hop artist Ray J, after Houston saw them hugging
- Family says this is a slap in the face to the late pop diva
- They were already upset about Whitney's life being depicted in a biopic premiering on Lifetime next month
The
family of music legend Whitney Houston is furious that a reality show
that began as a tribute to her has added to its cast the woman accused
of fighting with the diva just hours before her death.
MailOnline
has learned that Houston's family is outraged that former X Factor
finalist Stacy Francis, 45, who had a public fight with Houston at a
pre-Grammy Awards party in February 2012, has been tapped to join the
cast of TV One's hit reality series, R&B Divas: LA.
This
adds insult to injury, says a Houston insider, as the family of the
late pop diva was already upset about Whitney's life being depicted in a
biopic premiering on Lifetime next month.
MailOnline has
learned that Whitney Houston's family is outraged that Former X Factor
finalist Stacy Francis, who had an epic fight with Houston at a
pre-Grammy Awards party in 2012, has been tapped to join the cast of TV
One's hit reality series, R&B Divas: LA
Blood was running down Whitney's leg following the altercation with Stacy
Francis, 45, who has never released
her own CD and is still an aspiring solo artist, has joined the Los
Angeles cast of this top-rated franchise, much to the chagrin of the
Houston family
The
show, made up of chart-topping singers Chrisette Michelle, Leela James,
Lil Mo, Chanté Moore and Michel'le, is a spin-off of R&B Divas:
Atlanta.
'The
Houston family learned of this from one of the singers on the show and
they're outraged! They were already furious about this upcoming Lifetime
movie and now, they feel adding Stacy Francis to this show launched
about Whitney is just another slap in the face,' a family friend tells
MailOnline.
The
altercation between Houston and took place at a pre-Grammy party
hosted by The Bodyguard star's friend, R&B singer Kelly Price at Tru
Hollywood nightclub hours before she was found dead.
Houston's
sister-in-law Pat Houston accused Francis of stalking the late singer
during the party, saying she followed her around like an obsessed fan.
'She
comes over and she says 'Hello,' but you keep seeing her. She [Whitney]
didn't know her. She didn't know her from Adam,' she said of Francis in
an interview with Oprah Winfrey following the altercation.
The X
Factor contestant contends that she wasn't stalking Houston at the
party, but that the two actually fought over the six-time Grammy
winner's boyfriend, hip hop artist Ray J, after Houston saw them
hugging.
In
an interview with the Mirror following the incident, Francis claimed:
'Whitney came running over and said, 'You know Ray's my baby? Yeah, I'm a
cougar girl'! I said, 'Whitney, I love you baby. It's not like that.
Calm down, you're causing a scene.'
'There
was a lot of alcohol there. She was doing shots. I saw her drink one
before she went on stage to sing and then she had another one when she
came off.'
Other
singers who were at the party, including Price (who performed with
Houston that night) and former Brownstone lead singer Gilbert, refuted
Francis' version of events following the incident. They all backed up
claims that the X Factor contestant was actually harassing Houston.
Whitney Houston and Ray J were dating at the time for her death. The fight with Stacy was reportedly over him
In
2012, R&B Divas: Atlanta premiered on TV One and featured R&B
stars Syleena Johnson, Faith Evans, Monifah Carter, KeKe Wyatt and Nicci
Gilbert coming together to record a tribute album dedicated to
Houston.
The
CD that derived from the show, R&B Divas, was nominated for a
Grammy Award and the cast performed a memorial tribute to Houston in
front of 70,000 people at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
Now
Francis, 45, who has never released her own CD and is an aspiring solo
artist, has joined to Los Angeles cast of this top-rated franchise, much
to the chagrin of the Houston family.
Additionally,
Francis went on a media tour following Houston's death and told her
account of their altercation. The Houston family accused her of trying
to profit from the singer's death and fans of the late entertainer
vilified Francis on social media.
'Stacy definitely was trying to use her story about Whitney to get famous, the family felt,' says the insider.
The
addition of Francis to the 'R&B Divas LA' cast is puzzling to the
Houston family, as the other cast members on the show have had hit
records and very successful recording careers. The Brooklyn-bred
divorced mother of two only had mediocre success as part of a
short-lived girl group called Ex-Girlfriend in the late 1980s.
'As
far as Whitney's family is concerned, R&B Divas doesn't even exist
to them anymore. They're hoping die hard Whitney fans don't tune in to
watch it, the same way they hope they boycott the Lifetime biopic.
They're tired of people disrespecting the legacy of a woman who gave
this industry her all,' our source concluded.
Back
in July, the singer's mother Cissy Houston told 'Entertainment Tonight'
that the family was 'exhausted by the continuing misinformation and
comments.' Despite the fact that Angela Bassett, who is directing the
biopic, had a personal relationship with Houston when they worked on the
1995 film Waiting to Exhale, Cissy Houston said, 'No one connected with
this movie knew Whitney or anything about her relationship with Bobby.'
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