Bobby Brown Fires Back At Blame For Whitney Houston's Death

In the two and a half months since Whitney Houston's death, ex-husband Bobby Brown has apparently heard himself blamed for her passing just about enough.

In an interview to air this week on NBC's "Today", Brown attempts to set straight his view that Houston had substance-abuse issues that went above and beyond their marriage, Reuters reports. Houston, 48, was found unconscious in her Beverly Hills Hilton hotel room's bathtub the afternoon of Feb. 11, and later pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy later revealed that the six-time Grammy winner and star of "The Bodyguard" was killed by an accidental drowning, but that cocaine intoxication and heart disease played a role in her death.

"I'm not the one that got Whitney on drugs, at all. . . . I'm not the reason she's gone," Brown reportedly said.

Brown, 43, has spoken candidly about his battles with cocaine, marijuana and alcohol abuse - including his and Houston's struggles during their 15-year marriage that ended with a 2007 divorce - but claimed that he was dismayed after his own seven years of sobriety to hear of Houston using again. He claims that Houston's own drug use went back years before the two met in 2001 backstage at the Soul Train Music Awards.

"I was hurt . . . because, you know, me being off narcotics for the last seven years - I felt that she was, you know, I didn't know she was struggling with it still. But at the same time, you know - listen, it's a hard fight," he said.

Brown went so far as to say that when he saw Houston a week before her death, she had a "glow" about her that suggested a new-found health. The day Houston died, reports surfaced that she was under consideration to fill one of two vacation positions as a judge on the next season of FOX's "The X Factor".

"She just looked like she was in a good place," Brown said.

His interview will air on "Today" Wednesday and Thursday this week in two parts.