In a new interview with BuzzFeed News, Bobby Brown got real clear about how he felt about Kanye West using a photo of ex-wife Whitney Houston’s drug-strewn bathroom for an album cover.
“Ignorant people are ignorant people, and they’re going to be that way until they find themselves,” Brown told Audie Cornish, who hosts the BuzzFeed new Sunday night show, Profile.
“You expect disrespectful stuff from Kanye West anyway, so he’s not going to change,” Brown said. “Long as he stays clear from me, he’ll be safe. He’ll be OK.”
Kanye West purchased the controversial photo for $85,000 and used it for Pusha T’s Daytona album, which he produced. Brown had previously told Rolling Stone magazine he found the album cover to be in “really bad taste.”
Many people shared Brown’s view. Social media users found the photo exploitive, especially given Whitney’s overdose death. Houston’s estate said it was “extremely disappointed” in the choice; The Atlantic called the photo a “clear betrayal” of Kanye’s professed gospel of compassion.
Brown added that neither West nor Pusha T reached out to him about the controversial photo, nor does he want to hear from them.
He also spoke to Cornish about allegations that he had beat Houston during their relationship—specifically, a 2003 battery charge against the New Edition singer. Back in July, Brown denied that were ever even 911 calls about the incident, despite being read back a police report.
“It was a one-time thing that really happened, but when you see the movie, you’ll see it wasn’t that I hit her, or that I did anything like that,” Brown said, referring to the upcoming BET miniseries, The Bobby Brown Story.
Brown recently announced plans to open a domestic violence shelter outside of Atlanta to honor his late daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, who died after being found unresponsive in a bathtub. As Billboard reports, the shelter would also provide a “24-hour crisis intervention line and an emergency transitional center.”