Rihanna Headed Down 'Same Route as Whitney Houston,' Says Singer's Former Pastor
Rihanna's former preacher is reportedly speaking out about the singer's partying, drinking and smoking which he says may lead her down the same path as late singer Whitney Houston.
Bishop Vibert Lowe, who has known the 24-year-old entertainer since childhood, told Now Magazine that he is concerned for the singer who he thinks may end up dead like Houston who passed away after years of heavy drug use.
"She's drunk a lot, she's smoking a lot... It's really bad behavior and she's getting worse," Lowe recently told the publication. "She could head down the same route as Whitney Houston. She promotes a bad girl image and that's not responsible to her fans."
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The singer's family friend and former pastor from her home country of Barbados said his concern for the singer grew worse when he saw the hospital picture that she tweeted with an IV in her arm recently. Although the singer said she was hospitalized due to the flu, Lowe said he was disturbed by her lifestyle.
"She's going the wrong way," the 64-year-old Barbadian pastor said. "When I saw the hospital picture I was so disturbed."
Although the picture of Rihanna in the hospital ignited his most recent feeling of concern, Lowe has publicly spoken out about the singer's behavior in the past. In March, Lowe spoke about Rihanna being a better example.
"As a young lady she's not setting a good example," the pastor told The Sun in March. "Young people look to her as a mentor, they regard her as an idol and copy her lifestyle."
Despite her lifestyle choices, the pastor said the singer had many people praying for her.
"A lot of people have been praying for her and hoping that she will drop these bad habits," Lowe told The Sun. "We feel it's wrong for her to behave like this."
Lowe, who said he has not seen much of the singer since she left her native country to pursue superstardom, suggested that Rihanna should return to church.
"I don't see her much when she comes back -- she seems too busy -- but she should spend more time in church," Lowe said.
