Chattanooga Times Free Press

Brown addresses struggles in biopic

- BY JONATHAN LANDRUM JR.

ATLANTA — Bobby Brown often broke into tears as he watched scenes being filmed involving his daughter’s death for his upcoming biopic.

“You never really get over it,” he said about the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown, who was found unresponsi­ve in a bathtub in 2015. She died at age 22 after six months in a coma.

Sporting a gold pendant with a picture of him and Bobbi Kristina, Brown said in a recent interview that he’s still having a hard time coping with the death of his daughter. She is also the daughter of Whitney Houston, who died in 2012.

“I go through it every day,” he said. “… It gets rough sometimes. Of course, I have to go through it because I can’t change it.”

Bobbi Kristina and his tumultuous marriage to Houston are some of the most difficult subjects explored in “The Bobby Brown Story,” airing on BET in September. The miniseries details the rise of Brown, who became a multiplati­num sensation as a solo artist but was also defined by his highly publicized drug use, legal woes and tumultuous marriage to Houston.

Brown’s biopic is a continuati­on of BET’s successful “The New Edition Story” miniseries last year. It picks up after Brown’s departure from the group but does show scenes from his childhood as well.

Brown was often on set for the taping. His spirits were high during a reenactmen­t of a performanc­e of Brown’s 1988 smash hit “My Prerogativ­e.” But when Bobbi Kristina’s name was brought up, it became a sensitive subject for Brown and others.

“You would see the emotions on his face, (him) tearing up,” said Woody McClain, who reprises his role as Brown in the new biopic. “I would quickly switch the subject. I don’t want him to relive it again. Those are supertough moments.”

In memory of his daughter, Brown created the Bobbi Kristina Brown Serenity House, a notfor-profit organizati­on designed to assist women who have been victims of domestic violence.

“We’re trying to build houses for battered women and men to have a safe haven, so they’ll have a safe place to go,” he said. “We are very serious about this. I just don’t want to see any father or mother go through losing a child.”

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