The National Enquirer‘s decision to run a photo of Whitney Houston‘s body laying in her casket has sparked outrage amongst fans of the singer and across media outlets worldwide who are condemning the tabloid for their tasteless deed.
Though there is no official word on how much the publication paid for the photo, it is rumored that the picture is worth a few hundred thousand dollars.
The Enquirer says that the image was taken inside the Whigham Funeral Home in New Jersey before the singer’s private wake that only “close” friends and family members attended, which means that either a friend, family member or funeral home staff member is responsible for it leaking out to the press.
However, the owner of the funeral home, Carolyn Whigham, says that it wasn’t her people who released the photo.
“I’m going to answer you as the publicist told me to answer you: We have no comment. But it was not the funeral home,” she said before expressing irritation with the media, and explaining how this is ruining her business and their reputation.
“You guys are getting me in the middle,” she said. “I am very angry, very upset, just like the family, just like the fans. We don’t like it because it implicates us. Whitney was a personal friend to me and my family. We would not do that.”
The National Enquirer’s response to the whole situation is quite amusing, at best. “I thought it was beautiful,” the magazine’s publisher Mary Beth Wright told Fox News.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time The National Enquirer has published the photo of a dead celebrity on the front of their magazine. (Shocking, we know.)
In 1977, they published a photograph of Elvis Presley in his coffin, and 3 years later in 1980, they published a photo of John Lennon after he died.
So apparently being distasteful and offensive is what the National Enquirer is all about. Nothing new here.
