Stacy Francis [photo: Fox]Tenth-place finalist Stacy Francis certainly courted controversy throughout her run on "The X Factor," and months after leaving the show, she has found herself in the tabloids once again, regarding a mysterious heated altercation she allegedly had with Whitney Houston at a pre-Grammy party two days before Whitney's shocking death.
Last Thursday, February 9, Stacy performed at a pre-Grammy bash called "Kelly Price & Friends: For The Love Of R&B" at L.A.'s Tru Hollywood nightclub--and it turned out that event also marked the last time that Whitney ever performed publicly, when Whitney spontaneously jumped onstage with Kelly to duet on "Jesus Loves Me." At some point in the night, Whitney and Stacy, who reportedly once shared a stage together in the '90s, got into some sort of argument--although Stacy's own account of what went down seems to vary, depending on which media outlet you believe.
According to British tabloid The Daily Mirror, Whitney flew into a rage at Tru and accused Stacy of flirting with her rumored boyfriend, Ray J. "She was out of control," is how the Mirror quoted Stacy. "She put her hand in my face. She was screaming at me and called me a b****. She just went crazy--like Jekyll and Hyde. I turned to look at her and she pushed my forehead and turned my face away. I grabbed her hand and said, 'Please don't do this. You're everything to me. You're my idol, you're a legend.' I was crying and screaming out, we were both screaming until eventually we were pulled apart."
However, Stacy just appeared on "Access Hollywood" to set the record straight, and in her TV interview, seen above, she definitely downplayed the violence of her Whitney skirmish. Stacy in fact told "Access" that the altercation was not physical (and that she had nothing to do with the cuts, scratches, and blood seen in paparazzi photos of Whitney leaving the party that night). Stacy even claimed that Whitney smilingly apologized to her that evening. "What's in the media is that [Whitney] hit me in the face. What happened was I looked over at her and she moved my face away. She didn't push me. I think she was trying to have a conversation, and she was like, 'I don't want you in my conversation,'" explained Stacy.
"I said, 'You're my idol. In a normal circumstance, this might be going very different,'" continued Stacy, who actually covered Whitney's Bodyguard soundtrack song "Queen Of The Night" back on "The X Factor's" Movie Night. "Seriously, I'm from New York, and it could go there. But it wouldn't go there with Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston is everything to me. I said, 'Whitney, you don't even understand how much I love you.' And she smiled and she said, 'Okay, do I owe you an apology?'"
Stacy also told "Access Hollywood" that earlier in the night, she and Whitney had a very friendly conversation and even talked about the possibility of Whitney joining the "X Factor" cast. Of that, Stacy also told "Extra": "I said, 'You should do it. Being a mentor on the show would be so great. And anybody who would be your contestant--it would be so fortunate for them. Man, I would love to go back on the second season just for you to be my mentor.'"
So it's still unclear what exactly happened at Tru that night. "It was a misunderstanding. I don't know what she thought of me. I don't have a clear understanding of that myself," Stacy told "Access," adding that "it's upsetting to hear all the [tabloid] stories." Perhaps we will never really know what occurred that evening...or know what Whitney was going through in general during her troubled final days.
Related links:
Whitney was in the running to be an "X Factor" judge
Whitney's tumultuous last days