Kevin Costner Explains Why He Turned Down CNN’s Request to Shorten His Whitney Houston Eulogy

Kevin Costner is looking back at Whitney Houston‘s death.

Kevin, 69, and the late “I Will Always Love You” singer became lifelong friends after starring together in the 1992 blockbuster The Bodyguard. After Whitney‘s death at the age of 48 in February 2012, Kevin was one of eight people that spoke at her funeral.

In a new interview, Kevin explained why he turned down CNN’s request to shorten his eulogy at Whitney‘s funeral.

“I had been working on this speech…and I tried to compile everything I wanted to do and finally crafted this speech,” Kevin recalled on Dax Shepard‘s Armchair Expert podcast.

“Somebody said, ‘CNN’s here, they wouldn’t mind if your remarks were kept shorter because they’re going to have commercials,’” Kevin continued. “And I said, ‘They can get over that. They can play the commercial while I’m talking, I don’t care.’”

Kevin‘s eulogy ended up lasting 17 minutes, but he was initially hesitant to speak at Whitney‘s funeral. Whitney‘s cousin Dionne Warwick eventually encouraged Kevin to give a eulogy.

“I could feel the weight on her, now it’s shifted to me,” Kevin said about speaking at the funeral. “What am I going to say about this little girl? [I] went back to that church in Newark and it was filled. It was electric. There were two bands playing, the church was alive. It was like, boom!”

In an interview from 2022, Kevin revealed what he’ll “never forget” about Whitney.