WHITNEY HOUSTON: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

(l-r) Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, Akon What's really going on with Whitney Houston?

Said to be on the comeback trail, the Grammy Award winning diva is back in the news again -- in good ways, and bad.

Last week, the former top-charting chanteuse was made headlines.

And she also made head turns, as well.

According to 'Fox News' gossip guru Roger Friedman, sources said that the 'I Will Always Love You' singer looking "stoned" at Stevie Wonder's lavish 57th birthday celebration during the star studded opening of The Cove in The Bahamas.

But a record label source dismissed that talk.

"Whitney ... is straight as an arrow, not doing drugs and working hard in the studio. That's the word from her record company Monday in response to my weekend report," Friedman wrote two days later.

Okay.

Back at the ranch, her ex-husband Bobby Brown filed papers in California's Orange County Superior Court recently challenging the terms of his April 24 divorce. According to 'MTV News,' the former pop star turned reality TV personality is claiming he was distraught, depressed and so strapped for cash at the time that he couldn't afford a lawyer. He's now specifically trying to contest a judge's decision to grant physical and legal custody of the pair's 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, to his ex-wife.

'Access Hollywood' obtained papers that support Brown claims. The documents reportedly claim that "Whitney repeatedly assured Bobby that he need not file a response and that reconciliation was possible," and that "Whitney did so at a time when she knew that Bobby was particularly vulnerable."

A June 15 court date has been set for Brown's new case.

And while Whitney is done with Bobby, Verizon is officially done with Akon.

But she said to be ready to make musical magic with the Senagelese singing sensation -- even after the telecommunications giant dropped him as a spokesperson (thanks to the internet footage of him in a comprising position with a minor.)

The 'Locked Up' crooner has reportedly signed on to write and produce material for her big comeback project. According to 'Billboard,' Akon says the songs will most likely represent everything she's been through over the years, as well as where she is now in her life.

The album, which may feature collaborations with Ne-Yo, Diane Warren, R. Kelly, Jermaine Dupri, Jennifer Hudson and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, is expected to be released later this year.