Entertainment Music Whitney Houston Was Haunted by Molestation and Asked 'Did I Do Something to Make Her Think I Wanted Her?' Whitney Houston, who was allegedly molested by cousin Dee Dee Warwick, would ask her assistant Mary Jones, "Did I do something to make her think I wanted her?" By Janine Rubenstein Janine Rubenstein Instagram Twitter Janine Rubenstein is Editor-at-Large at PEOPLE and host of PEOPLE Every Day podcast, a daily dose of breaking news, pop culture and heartwarming human interest stories. Formerly Senior Editor of music content, she's also covered crime, human interest and television news throughout her many years with the brand. Prior to PEOPLE she's written for Essence, The Cape Times newspaper and Los Angeles Magazine among others. On-screen Rubenstein can be found featured on shows like Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight and she routinely hosts PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly's star-studded Red Carpet Live specials. Follow the San Francisco native, Black Barbie collector and proud mom of two on Instagram and Twitter @janinerube People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 25, 2018 02:20 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Whitney Houston‘s childhood was marked by sexual abuse that haunted her into adulthood, her family and friends have alleged. In the upcoming documentary Whitney, her brother Gary and longtime assistant Mary Jones open up about the heartbreak she felt, years after she was allegedly molested by her older cousin Dee Dee Warwick. “She used to say, ‘I wonder if I did something to make her think I wanted her?” recalls Jones in an emotional interview with the film’s director Kevin Macdonald, about Houston opening up to her about the abuse. But Jones would tell her not to think that way, saying, “Stop. A predator is a predator.” Kanye West Spent $85,000 on Photo of Whitney Houston’s Drug-Covered Bathroom for Pusha T’s Album Frederic REGLAIN/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Warwick, also a singer and the sister of Dionne Warwick, died in 2008. When the Houston kids were growing up she’d often babysit them in and around their Newark, New Jersey, hometown while their mother Cissy Houston traveled as a backup singer. “[There were] four, five different families who took care of us,” Houston’s brother Gary, who claims he was also abused by Warwick, recalls of that time. And Houston once told Jones, “Mommy don’t know the things we went through.'” Whitney Houston Was Sexually Abused by Her Cousin, Singer Dee Dee Warwick, New Documentary Claims By all accounts that pain remained with Houston throughout her amazing, troubled life. The “I Will Always Love You” icon traversed the heights of fame and the depths of despair. In the film, her family and friends recount that journey, including her headline-fueling marriage to Bobby Brown and long-rumored bisexuality to her struggles with mothering Bobbi Kristina and crippling cocaine addiction. RELATED VIDEO: Bobbi Kristina Brown’s Final Journey: Laid to Rest Next to Whitney Houston In the end, Jones says Houston told her on Feb. 11, 2012, “I need to get my life together” and talked about wanting to “get into heaven”. Later that day she was found drowned in her hotel-room bathtub with cocaine in her system. Through it all, says Jones, “I think she was trying to find herself.” For more on Houston’s painful family secrets and new documentary, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE on stands now.