Whitney Houston: FBI Files Reveal Alleged Extortion Attempt, Fan Mail Searched for Threatening Letters

Recently released FBI files on deceased R&B singer Whitney Houston revealed that the agency perused Houston's fan mail and found at least one extortion attempt on the singer.

The heavily redacted 128 page document detailed several threatening letters that Houston received throughout her career.

According to the New York Post, a 1992 letter sent to Houston's Nippy Inc. offices demanded $100,000 from the Grammy winner to prevent "details" about Houston's "private life" from leaking into the public eye. Houston apparently did not pay the hefty sum because another letter from the same person ratcheted up the demand to $250,000.

It seems that Houston may have paid the second amount as John Houston, Whitney's father, sent the writer a confidentiality agreement and a sum of money that was not spelled out in the document.

According to digitriad.com, Houston considered the writer "a friend" and had shared damning "personal things" with her.

After Houston seemed to have paid the hush money, the case was closed by the FBI without prosecuting anyone involved.

The document also revealed that the singer may have had several potentially dangerous fans, and even stalkers. The FBI deemed that one Vermont man, who sent several letters to Houston, "might hurt someone with some crazy idea and not realize how stupid an idea it was until after it was done."

His letters contained diatribes such as "Miss Whitney, you are just so pretty and so beautiful. I just cannot stop thinking about you. Many times when I think about you I will start to shake..... I really and truly am in love with you."

Another letter laid out the extent to which the Vermont man was obsessed, "Over the past 17 months, I have sent ... 66 letters to Miss Whitney. ... I have been to 9 of Miss Whitney's concerts and I have tried to give her flowers twice at the concerts."

The write eventually became scared of what he might do if Whitney did not answer his letters, writing "I have gotten mad at her a few times. ... it scares me that I might come up with some crazy or stupid or really dumb idea that might be as bad or even worse than that"

The reports also showed that the FBI interviewed a failed extortionist who thought that revealing his love for Houston on national television would somehow harm the singer's reputation.