Eddie Murphy Gave Whitney Houston A Diamond Engagement Ring, She Ended With ‘Backup’ Guy Instead, Book Claims

Whitney Houston had her sights set on Eddie Murphy and even got a diamond engagement ring from the comedian at the height of their careers, but the relationship ended fizzled out and Whitney ended up with her “backup” guy instead, a new book claims.

The singer’s lifelong friend, Robyn Crawford, has published a tell-all book about her relationship with Whitney and touched on the reports that the “I Will Always Love You” singer and Murphy were dating — rumors that Whitney denied at the time. But as Radar Online claimed, Crawford is spilling new details of the long-secret relationship and how close the two came to walking down the aisle.

The book, A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston, claimed that the pair dated in 1990 after Whitney had developed a crush on Eddie and pursued a relationship with him. Crawford claimed that the two grew very serious, and Eddie even gave Whitney a big diamond ring that Crawford called an engagement ring.

Still, Crawford said she doubted the two would ever actually get married, as Whitney was put off by Eddie’s back-and-forth ideas on their relationship. She noted that Eddie even stood up Whitney for a date once. As the relationship fell apart, Whitney eventually ended up marrying Bobby Brown — who Crawford said was the singer’s “backup” guy in case the relationship with Eddie didn’t work.

Even though the relationship didn’t last, Whitney found a way to get the most out of the engagement ring, Crawford wrote.

“When the insurance appraiser…came to our house to value Whitney’s jewelry, we found out that the ring Eddie had given her was more valuable than her engagement ring from Bobby,” Crawford wrote.

“Whitney shrugged and had Eddie’s ring made into earrings.”

As The Inquisitr noted, Crawford is causing quite a stir with the book and some of the bombshell claims. She also claimed to have carried on a long romantic affair with the singer, which started when they first met as camp counselors in New Jersey at the age of 16. Crawford claimed that the two dated for some time, but Whitney cut off the romance when she signed a major deal at Arista Records.

“She said we shouldn’t be physical anymore,” Crawford wrote, via People magazine. “Because it would make our journey even more difficult. She said if people find out about us, they would use this against us and back in the ’80s that’s how it felt.”