Enquirer Publishes Photos of Whitney in Coffin

“They’ve gone too far!” That’s what many are saying now that the National Inquirer has put a picture of Whitney Houston’s body on the front page, intimate and dignified, with her trademark purple dress and elaborate eye-shadow, set within a golden coffin with musical notes and her private pet-name “Nippy,” eloquently sewn on the inside, but bespattered with Enquirer grade headlines luring readers to read that she was buried with $500,000 dollars worth of jewelry and golden slippers.

Who took the photo? Nobody knows. But however much they abused their trusted position, they probably earned up to six figures from it. The family has left the photos unverified, but many are calling it “shameful,” and the Washington Post has declared that “a line has been crossed.”

The photo was probably taken at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, New Jersey.

It isn’t the first for the Enquirer, and if they crossed any line, they did it long ago. They published a photo of Elvis Prestly in his coffin in 1977, and a photo of John Lennon following his death in 1980.

“The Enquirer struck again with its latest cover featuring Whitney Houston in a casket. It’s just another disgusting display of how low celebrity obsession can stoop,” said Denise Warner, the executive Editor of the website HollywoodLife.com.”Regardless of how they obtained the picture – and the likely exorbitant price they paid for it, the Enquirer should have thought twice about this post-mortem portrait. No one needs to remember Whitney preserved in formaldehyde. And it’s certainly not an image that is necessary in the discussion of her life and death.”

Enquirer publisher Mary Beth replied to such criticisms that, “I thought it was beautiful.”