REPORT: Shady Guy In The News Again, Admits To Cleaning Up Whitney Houston’s Hotel Room When She Died.
What’s with Raffles Van Exel, the guy who keeps showing up in reports about Whitney Houston?
There seems to be no shortage of stories about the ‘entertainment consultant’ who has been accused of selling photos to TMZ and other sources – everything from Whitney’s hotel room on the day of her death to the infamous casket photo that was sold to the National Enquirer for a reported $500,000.
According to Forbes writer Roger Friedman pictures of Whitney’s hotel room (posted on TMZ) were sent in by Van Exel in exchange for money. He is the one believed to be sneaking photos of the casket during the family’s private viewing. Van Exel is also accused or ‘ripping off’ TMZ with a photo he claimed was Whitney being wheeled away with a sheet over her. Later reports claimed that was in fact Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina, who was rushed to the hospital after her mother’s death. Anything for money, I guess.
Van Exel also admitted to a Dutch newspaper that he cleaned up the hotel room where she drowned, saying  “The room had to be emptied … Someone had to do it,”  (that’s the English translation of the article published online.) He did not say exactly WHAT he ‘cleaned out’ of the hotel room, but it stands to reason that they could potentially be cocaine that we’ve since learned was instrumental in Houston’s death. And yet – no drugs were found in her suite when authorities showed up. Odd to be so open about something is clearly important to any police investigation into her death. Not to mention how tacky it is to give an interview so soon after her death. (The interview was printed a mere four days after Houston died.)
Now, there are even accusations flying that Van Exel may be sharing some of his profits from the sale of photos with a member of the Houston family. That is anyone’s guess. But if it’s true, it’s beyond regrettable.
Van Exel has been Hollywood’s version of a barnacle on whale for a long time. In a YouTube video he admits to lying to celebrities and using them to gain fame for himself. He says in the video  he is “willing to do whatever it takes to become part of the show.” In the video he lies to Stevie Wonder, saying that he’s “young George Benson, GB’s son,” referring to the R&B star.  And then asks for a photo. (Lying to a blind man about your identity??? Really?) He’s even used a pair of crutches (despite having no actual injury) to gain access to a red carpet.
It seems to me that one of the job expectations of a trusted entertainment consultant would be discretion, tact and trustworthiness. If these accusations are true and Van Exel is in fact the mole capitalizing on Houston’s death, then he should probably consider finding another line of work. The newspaper interview alone is a breach of trust – not to mention his alleged lecherous red-carpet incidents. I have a feeling we’ll see his name come up again as more facts surface – and from the looks of it – it won’t be good.
