Whitney Houston's family has issued a response to Jerrod Carmichael's controversial joke about the late singer at the Golden Globes.
Carmichael hosted this year's awards ceremony, which took place in Beverly Hills, California on Tuesday, January 10.
During the evening, the comedian and actor took aim at various Hollywood icons and institutions, including Tom Cruise and Will Smith.
As for what Jerrod Carmichael said about Houston, he joked: "So we're here, live, from the hotel that killed Whitney Houston, the Beverly Hilton."
The singer was found unconscious in her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2012 and later pronounced dead at the age of 48. Whitney Houston was scheduled to attend a Grammy Awards dinner at the Los Angeles hotel.
It was later confirmed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office listed the cause of death as drowning and "the effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use."
Jerrod Carmichael at the 2023 Golden Globes
Jerrod Carmichael at the 2023 Golden Globes (Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images)
In a statement released to TMZ, the late singer's family said of Carmichael's comment: "The Whitney Houston Estate is disappointed by the joke and felt it was in poor taste."
The website said the message came from Pat Houston, Whitney's longtime manager and sister-in-law.
Many Twitter users also criticized Jerrod Carmichael for his on-stage comment about the singer.
"Jerrod Carmichael is disgusting as hell for making such a grotesque and vulgar 'joke' about Whitney Houston. It was so unnecessary. No one in the audience reacted well. He was awful all night,” wrote one user of the platform.
Another tweet said: "I can't put into words the disgust I feel at the Whitney Houston 'joke' that Jerrod Carmichael just pulled, there are no words."
A third person commented: “I really don't think Jerrod Carmichael is going to get many fans out here making jokes about Whitney Houston on this platform. There is nothing funny about it. There are some things you shouldn't joke about."
