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Bobby Brown Feels ‘Guilty’ About Late Son’s Bobby Jr.’s Involvement With Drugs: ‘My Time Played a Part’
Bobby Brown said he felt “guilty” about late son Bobby Brown Jr.’s involvement with drugs before his death during an appearance on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch on Wednesday, April 14.
“I’ve been through my time, and I know that my time played a part in my son feeling he could test something. You know? And I feel guilty about that,” the “My Prerogative” artist, 52, said in reference to his past addiction struggles with narcotics and alcohol. Bobby Jr. was the son of the “On Our Own” singer and ex-girlfriend Kim Ward.
When asked if he knew Bobby Jr. was “struggling” with drug use, the “Every Little Step” artist said he “did not know that” but didn’t think his son was “dependent” on the substances he was using.
“Let me make it clear, he wasn’t a user,” Bobby explained. “He would experiment with different things. It wasn’t like he was dependent on drugs like when I was in my situation. I depended. I needed it. He was a young man that tried the wrong stuff, and it took him out of here.”
News of Bobby Jr.’s death broke in November 2020. Members of the Los Angeles Police Department said in the report that the 28-year-old had “a medical history of alcohol abuse” and was “pronounced dead at the scene.”
Bobby Jr.’s girlfriend, Anna Reed, offered a witness statement and claimed he had “snorted” half a Percocet tablet and three lines of cocaine prior to being found unresponsive in a two-story townhouse.
In March, Bobby Jr.’s cause of death was determined to be from the combined effects of alcohol, cocaine and fentanyl, Us Weekly reported, citing the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
Bobby said during his appearance on Red Table Talk that an investigation is “still going on” to find the person who supplied the drugs to his late son.
“I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed [that] they find the people and get these drugs off the street, but my babies are gone,” the grieving father said.
Bobby Jr. isn’t the first tragic death in the Brown family. Whitney Houston, whom Bobby was married to from 1992 to 2007, was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills Hotel in February 2012. The “I Will Always Love You” singer’s cause of death was coronary artery disease and cocaine intoxication. She was 48.
Three years later, Bobby and Whitney’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, was found dead in her Atlanta home. She was discovered in a similar state as her mother — unresponsive in the bathtub. She spent five months in a medically induced coma before dying at age 22 in July 2015. Her former boyfriend Nick Gordon was found “legally responsible” for her death in a September 2016 court ruling.
In January 2020, 30-year-old Nick died at a hospital in Florida from a heroin overdose.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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