Interview...

[From New York Post]

WHITNEY SINGS TO DIANE
New York Post; New York; Nov 1, 2002; MICHAEL STARR;

ABC's Diane Sawyer is close to landing an exclusive interview with Whitney Houston and husband Bobby Brown, The Post has learned.

Negotiations have apparently been going back and forth for several weeks.

Sawyer is keen to get the troubled couple to sit for their first interview, since both had much-publicized brushes with the law.

Houston apparently is interested in publicizing "Just Whitney," her first CD in four years.

ABC isn't commenting, but it's expected that the interview - if it happens - could be taped as early as next week.

Apparently, Houston and Brown had earlier agreed to be interviewed - at their Atlanta home - but backed out before plans could be finalized.

Foxnews.com reported last week that ABC had lined up the interview in Atlanta, but Houston and Brown stayed holed up in an L.A. hotel and never showed up. Later, the Web site said the interview was still planned.

Houston's publicist insisted that there might be an interview "in the future," but that it was up to ABC to announce it and that the couple had not "marooned" Sawyer, according to columnist Roger Friedman.

Sawyer, meanwhile, has been on a roll lately.

She came very close to getting the first on-air interview with accused killer Robert Blake - until the Los Angeles sheriff's office barred cameras earlier this week.

And Sawyer nailed down an exclusive with Jennifer Lopez that will air Nov. 13 in a special edition of "Primetime."

When and if the Houson-Brown interview takes place there will be plenty to talk about.

Recently, Houston's father sued her, claiming she owed his company management fees that were never paid.

The diva also set off a tidal wave of gossip in September 2001 when she showed up for a Michael Jackson benefit looking alarmingly gaunt.

In January 2000, she was caught with a half-ounce of marijuana in Hawaii. Pot-possession charges were later dismissed after Houston copped a plea deal.

Brown has had several brushes with the law.

NEWSFILE: 1 NOVEMBER 2002