Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson were supposedly just friends and musical collaborators. However, there have been reports which put into question the true nature of their bond. According to The Sun, the musicians had an affair while working together, during Jackson’s marriage to Hazel Gordy. “In those early days … he was smuggled into her hotel rooms, they worked extra late in the studio, and she even had a code name for him. She referred to him as ‘Ji,’ ” shared an anonymous source (via the New York Post).
Houston reportedly called things off after Jermaine refused to choose her over Gordy, but they never lost their former affection. “[Whitney’s] death has devastated Jermaine because of the history between them,” shared a source with the publication (via the Daily Mail). “No one understood the scale of his grief because they didn’t know what they shared.” Despite the enduring rumors, neither Houston nor Jermaine ever went public with their relationship, though Jackson wrote about their close friendship in his closeness in his memoir.
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And though Jermaine’s recollection of their dynamic proved to be rather chaste, his sister LaToya Jackson once provided a different angle. “I think that Jermaine wrote that in his book to protect Whitney at that particular time … and he has admitted that they had an affair,” shared La Toya during an episode of “The Talk” (via I Love Old School Music).
