Whitney Houston says ex-husband Bobby Brown was emotionally abusive during their 14 year marriage and at one point slapped and spit on her.

On Monday, Whitney — who is staging a career comeback with the release of her album in 7 years, I Look To You – told Oprah that the crooner wasn’t physically abusive but that “he slapped me once but he got hit on the head three times by me.”

Whitney, 46, says she “was horrified he spit on me, in my face” and that left her “very hurt, very angry.”

The star says she was attracted to Brown, who she married in a lavish ceremony in 1992, because he had control in their relationship.

“He was my drug,” Whitney tells Oprah. “I didn’t do anything without him.” “Something happens to a man when a woman has that much fame. … I tried to play down all the time. I used to say, ‘I’m Mrs. Brown, don’t call me Houston.’”

Whitney Houston goes one-on-one with the Queen of Talk i a two-part appearance premiering on The Oprah Winfrey Show this Monday, Sept. 14.