It’s a well known fact that actor Robert De Niro has a thing for Black women. Not just a thing, we seem to be his preference, both in dating and in marriage. There is a long list, including everyone from model Naomi Campbell to his estranged wife Grace Hightower. And apparently, in the early nineties, late eighties, Bobby was trying to add legendary singer Whitney Houston to the roster. From her recounting of the story, she didn’t seem all that interested. And in her memoir about her life with Houston, Robin Crawford shared that Houston wasn’t really into white guys.
Still, the story of De Niro trying to push up on her is just the type of vintage tea we love to sip. And during a sit down interview with”The Byron Allen Show” in 1990, Houston poured. See what she had to say below.
Byron Allen: What is the story here. I hear Robert De Niro was following you all over the world.
Whitney Houston: Hmm All the way to London. I think he was there already and he sent me flowers and everything. He’s been on my case, he’d been sweating me for a little while.
Byron Allen: He was chasing this woman.
Whitney Houston: And it was so funny because he called me the night at Carnegie Hall. When I got off stage, he wanted to talk to me that night.
Byron Allen: So you had me, Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro looking for you at Carnegie Hall.
Whitney: Lord have mercy, I’m so popular, I can’t stand it. Yeah, he called me that night. He was a little bit shy so he didn’t want to come to the show. He shies away from the public eye. But since then, he had sending me flowers and he wanted to get to know me better. Yeah, right. But he’s going with Toukie. Toukie Smith.
Byron Allen: Didn’t he marry her?
Whitney: Well actually, Robert wants to do a movie with me.
Byron Allen: Robert De Niro?
Whitney: Bob. Bob wants to do a movie.
Byron Allen: Then you’ll be stuck with him for three months, he’s smart.
Whitney: Ha! I’m looking into it. I think he’s a wonderful actor, one of the best.
You can watch this full interview in the video below.