The National Enquirer's Whitney funeral coup.

The funeral of Whitney Houston was a carefully guarded, very private affair thrown by the Houston family and the Whigham Funeral Home in Whitney’s home state of New Jersey.  They were very, very careful to keep all possible celebrity watchers and paparazzi out of the building.  However, they weren’t completely successful.  The National Enquirer published a photo purported to be Whitney Houston in her funeral casket on Wednesday.  That’s the image you see at the very top of this post.

Assuming you believe that the image is real, and not some National Enquirer fakery, that’s a pretty incredible story and it has caused some pretty significant backlash against traditional media outlets who have reposted it.  Even I’m a bit wary about posting the image, to be honest; it’s not disturbing in any way, it’s just a body in a casket and the picture in and of itself is still newsworthy.  Famously, the Enquirer also posted casket pictures of Elvis and Michael Jackson, so getting some cash from Whitney’s death is not terribly shocking for that tabloid.

Still, with as hard as the family has tried to keep things private, it’s a shame that someone was able to dig out their cell phone and get Whitney’s last public appearance disseminated into the public for profit purposes.

Image:  The Improper/National Enquirer

Tags: enquirer, national enquirer, national enquirer whitney houston, whitney houston funeral, whitney houston, whitney houston casket photo, unusual images, celebrities, whitney houston casket photo published, unusual photographs, funerals, whigham funeral home, new jersey, whitney houston funeral photo, paparazzi

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