Kevin Costner says he’s lucky to be 70 remembering Whitney Houston

As Kevin Costner turns 70, he remembers his former teammate Whitney Houston.

On his birthday, Jan. 18, Costner shared a photo to his Instagram Stories of himself and Houston on the set of 1992’s “The Bodyguard,” in which the couple starred. The photo is from Houston’s account, managed by his estate.

“This photo reminds me how lucky I am to have another birthday,” Costner wrote in the post. “We lost such a light when we lost Whitney.”

Houston died at age 48 on February 11, 2012. She would have been 61 this year.

In the photo, Costner and Houston are joined by hairstylist Ellin LaVar.

“Happy birthday to Kevin Costner!” the photo’s caption read. “A behind-the-scenes photo from ‘The Bodyguard’ with Kevin, Whitney and Ellin LaVar, Whitney’s hairstylist for the film.”

In June 2024, Costner said that during Houston’s 2012 funeral, he refused to shorten his 17-minute eulogy so that television networks like CNN could run commercials during the broadcast.

“I had been working on this speech…and I tried to compile everything I wanted to do and I finally wrote this speech,” Costner said. “Someone said, ‘CNN is here, they wouldn’t mind if your remarks were shorter because they’re going to have commercials.’ And I said, “They can get over it. They can play the ad while I’m talking, I don’t care.

He continued: “I could feel the weight on her, now it’s transferred to me. What am I going to say about this little girl? (I) went back to this church in Newark and it was full. It was electric. There were two bands playing, the church was alive. It was like, boom! »