The National Enquirer this week posted a picture of Whitney Houston’s body as it lay in a casket and that decision by the editorial team at the Enquirer has led to outrage from Houston fans and various publications.
In the photograph Houston is shown wearing a dark dress while lying in a coffin and her nickhame “Nippy” is featured in blue script along with two treble clefs on the white lining of the casket’s cover.
In a second photograph the coffin appears to be empty in a viewing room at a funeral home which suggests it’s real.
Since the funeral was invitation only the photograph was either taken by a friend or family member or more likely someone who gained access to the funeral home during non-viewing hours since the photograph appears to have been taken inside an empty room.
In the cover headline from the gossip publication the National Enquirer claims that Houston was buried in nearly $500,000 worth of jewelry and wore her favorite purple dress with gold slippers.
The photos may have been taken at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J although the location of the photographs is not known at this time.
Following the release of the pictures various writers called out the publication including Washington Post Celebritology blogger Sarah Anne who called the photo “shocking and disturbing” while Gossip Cop says it “represents the very worst of predatory paparazzi culture.”
In what might be the most succinct and pointed Twitter reaction Lisa Fung , executive editor of The Wrap tweeted:
“Oh yuck. The National Enquirer’s Whitney Houston cover is yet another low.”
The Enquirer model comes one week after the tabloid featured a photo recreation of a model photographed in a bathtub and then sprawled out on the floor.
Do you think the National Enquirer has gone too far in publishing the photos of Whitney Houston’s dead body?