Bobby Brown sat down with Robin Roberts on 20/20 Tuesday night, getting honest about the painful parallels between the deaths of his daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown last year and his ex-wife Whitney Houston three years earlier. Both were found unresponsive in their bathtubs, both with drugs in their system. Brown alleged an additional similarity, pointing out that Nick Gordon, Houston’s rumored adopted son and Bobbi Kristina’s “husband†(the fact of their marriage is unclear), was present in both instances. “It’s not a mystery to me. The same thing that happened to my daughter is what happened to Whitney. There was only one person that was around at both occasions,†said Brown, referencing Gordon. Brown added, “He knows what happened. I don’t know what happened that night, but he does.†Gordon was investigated for foul play, and Brown joined Bobbi Kristina’s estate in filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against Gordon last month.
Brown also took some of the responsibility for Bobbi Kristina’s death, acknowledging that his struggles with substance abuse may have led Bobbi Kristina down a similar path. He spoke of the difficulty of hiding his and Houston’s problems during Bobbi Kristina’s childhood, explaining, “I always made it a point to not let her see me or my wife in that type of situation … It’s hard when you’re doing it every day, it’s really hard.†He admitted, “We could have been better. We should have been better.†Bobbi Kristina, who died at age 22 after six months in a coma, was found in the bathtub just days before the anniversary of her mother’s death.