Nancy Grace was put into the hot seat this week on ABC's “The View” over her suggestion that Whitney Houston's Feb. 11 death may have been murder.
Barbara Walters and the other "View" hosts questioned Grace about her Feb. 13 suggestion that the late pop singer, found submerged in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills Hilton, may have been “pushed under the water."
“Did it ever occur to you that maybe implying someone murdered the woman would put the family into a tizzy?” "View"co-host Joy Behar snapped at the HLN host.
Grace responded with equal fervor, commenting, “I'm sure it's all fun to sit around and throw stones from behind a coffee cup."
Grace said that she chose to hit on each of the three possible results of a death investigation: natural causes, accident, and foul play, saying her commentary was meant to objectively approach the situation like an autopsy.
The hosts didn’t buy it. As Walters pointed out, this is television, not forensic science, and no one disagreed with the fact that an autopsy was good protocol. It was Grace’s bad timing that hit a nerve.
“It just happened and you had a family that is grieving,” added Sherri Shepherd. “This woman affected people in a very deep way. Do you think maybe you could have waited before putting that out there?”
This wasn’t the first time the opinionated pundit was challenged regarding her statements. She similarly defended herself on “Good Morning America,” remarking, “I understand that some people would consider that jarring or harsh, but there is nothing delicate or nice about a murder, a death, an unexpected death, or an autopsy and that is what autopsies are for.”
She did, however, acknowledge that she now had no honest belief Houston had been pushed under the water.
"It is not a homicide and I'm thankful for that," Grace said, "but I still want the truth."
Most agree with the ‘View’ hosts on the issue, although some have risen to Grace’s defense.
“I agree with Nancy Grace, and I appreciate her directness,” writes bbaptiste10 on The Huffington Post. “I don't like her, but I believe that is why she is on TV – to say the things that everyone’s thinking but doesn't have the…nerve, and ability to say.”
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