"You're a liar": When Oprah Winfrey sparked the anger of Whitney Houston's family

While receiving the LionHeart Award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Tuesday, Oprah Winfrey stated that Whitney Houston fell off the stage while performing on her talk show in 2009.

"I knew that if the story of her downfall spread, it would destroy her."

She suggested that the singer was under the influence of drugs.

"The day she came to perform on my show, she wasn't sober and she fell off the stage. I knew that if the story of her fall got out, it would destroy her. So, even though the audience was there with cameras, I begged them not to release those pictures because it would ruin her life, and they didn't," said 'Lady O'.

These remarks sparked outrage from Whitney Houston's family.

"She was absolutely not under the influence of drugs."

She accuses the host of lying about the singer who died in 2012. "Whitney fell off the stage, that's for sure, but it was during soundcheck, because of the darkness and the fact that she wasn't familiar with the stage. She was absolutely not under the influence of drugs. Like many people, she had to deal with personal struggles, but it is inaccurate and unfair to associate that struggle with every one of her performances or every stage of her life," said Pat Houston, who manages Whitney's estate.

For her, there is no doubt that the singer behaved like a professional artist during that performance in 2009. "We owe her the dignity of telling the truth, and not repeating myths," she added.