Whitney Houston’s funeral packed the inside of Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church Saturday. But one notable person who was absent from the crowd was her ex-husband Bobby Brown.

A witness tells Us Weekly that Brown “was allowed to go in, pay his respects and then he had to leave. He was red-eyed going up to the casket and then left. He was there for 15 minutes.”

Addressing the speculation that he was thrown out, turned away and rumors that he didn’t show at all, Brown, who’s schedule to perform at a concert Saturday, has released an official statement, explaining the situation in full.

“My children and I were invited to the funeral of my ex-wife Whitney Houston,” he said, referring to his three kids from previous relationships Landon, 26, La’princia, 11, Robert Jr., 10, plus Cassius, his two-year-old with wife Alicia Etheridge. “We were seated by security and then subsequently asked to move on three separate occasions. I fail to understand why security treated my family this way and continue to ask us and no one else to move. Security then prevented me from attempting to see my daughter Bobbi Kristina. In light of the events, I gave a kiss to the casket of my ex-wife the best way I know how.”

Earlier this week, a source told Us that there is still underlying tension between Houston’s relatives and Brown, who married Houston in 1992. Their divorce was finalized in 2007.

“There are family members who felt Bobby drove Whitney into drugs,” one source explained. “But now Bobby is clean and Whitney has unfortunately passed. So there’s resentment.”

Jennifer Lopez won’t be hiring a Wedding Planner anytime soon.

The 42-year-old singer-actress has been dating 24-year-old backup dancer Casper Smart since the fall, but Lopez is wary of walking down the aisle a fourth time. (She and husband of seven years Marc Anthony split in July 2011; Lopez was also married to Cris Judd from 2001-2003 and Ojani Noa from 1997-1998).

“Do you think you’ll marry again?” Today show co-host Matt Lauer asked the American Idol judge Monday.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll see. I mean, I don’t know,” a flustered Lopez answered. “It’s not time to think about that yet. It’s still fresh.”

Unlike past loves, Lopez has remained in contact with Anthony, 43, with whom she shares two children, twins Max and Emme, nearly 4. “There is real love there,” she explained of working with her ex-husband on their new TV show, Q’Viva! The Chosen.

“Marc and I were friends before we got married. We were friends for years, and we always loved each other,” Lopez said. “And, obviously, we have children together, so it’s not going to be like he’s not in my life. He’s always going to be in my life.”

Perhaps there’s a friendly thaw between Angelina Jolie and Stacy Keibler?

At Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, both women escorted their nominated men — Jolie’s longtime love Brad Pitt, Keibler’s guy of six months George Clooney — on the red carpet and inside the Shrine Auditorium.

In a rare photo, all four of the decked-out stars caught up on the red carpet, with Jolie, 36 and Clooney, 50, and Keibler, 32, fixated intently on Pitt, 48; they also posed for a (somewhat awkward!) group shot together.

(Actress and In the Land of Blood and Honey director Jolie sizzled in a black Jenny Peckham dress that showed off her multiple back tattoos; former WWE star Keibler shined in a custom black French hand corded lace fishtail Marchesa gown.)

No word yet on whether Jolie and Keibler had a private one-on-one gabfest. But earlier this month, the brunette and blonde stunners didn’t exactly get along like gangbusters on a private jet flight with their men.
Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

“Angelina refused to acknowledge that Stacy was even on the plane,” a source told Us Weekly of a Jan. 7 flight from L.A. to the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

“Angelina went out of her way to ignore her, from takeoff to landing. She would not even look Stacy’s way. She was not having it!” the insider added, explaining that Jolie is “really not a girlie girl.”

Both Pitt and his pal Clooney walked home empty handed at Sunday’s awards, bested in the Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role category by Frenchman Jean Dujardin from The Artist.

On Wednesday Brooklyn-born actor Nick Santino committed suicide.

The soap opera star was wracked with grief after his beloved pit bull Rocco was euthanized Tuesday — the same day Santino turned 47.

“Today I betrayed my best friend and put down my best friend,” Santino wrote in a suicide note, according to close friend Stuart Sarnoff. “Rocco trusted me and I failed him. He didn’t deserve this.”

The actor, who appeared on seven episodes of All My Children and six episodes of Guiding Light, had been feeling “harassed” by his building management company, according to his neighbor Lia Pettigrew.

He was allegedly threatened with a $250 fine for having a barking dog, but according to neighbor Kevan Cleary, “the dog was not a barker, but somebody complained that the dog would bark.”

Santino phoned a former girlfriend at 2 a.m. Wednesday. Police found Santino’s body in his bedroom later that afternoon. The actor had overdosed on pills.

The actor’s pet Rocco has been cremated; friends tell The New York Post Santino’s remains will also be cremated.

What was Demi smoking?

On Friday it was released online, the disturbing audiotape of the 911 call placed by frantic friends of Demi Moore reveal that the 49-year-old star collapsed in her L.A. home Monday after smoking a mysterious substance.

AUDIO: Hear the disturbing 911 call

“It’s not marijuana,” the unidentified female caller told the dispatcher. “It’s similar to incense.” The drug left the newly single actress and mom with “convulsions,” unable to speak and “burning up,” her friend reported.

So just what was the incense-like drug that provoked Moore’s frightening emergency?

One potential guess could be synthetic cannabis. Known as “K2,” “Spice” or “herbal incense,” it’s a blend of herbs, spices and a synthetic compound similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredients in marijuana.

“It’s a relaxed high,” Dr. John Sharp, MD, faculty member of Harvard Medical School explained to Us Weekly Friday. “People who aren’t used to it can feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. Others feel relaxed physically,” added Dr. Sharp, a psychiatrist who has worked in celebrity rehab centers.

“It’s similar to weed,” he added of the increasingly popular, inexpensive drug. “The mistake, though, is to think that it’s necessarily safer. It also doesn’t show up in toxicology screenings.”

“The issue with this is there is no control of the purity of the chemical that has been sprayed on the weed that they are going to smoke,” noted Dr. David Sack, M.D. CEO of Promises of Malibu, an addiction treatment center.

Some medical studies have linked the use of synthetic cannabis to psychosis, heart attacks and, indeed, convulsions. “We see a lot of emergency room visits related to spice because people start to feel unreal or they hallucinate or they are very sedated so they become frightened and they have panic attacks,” Dr. Sack said.

It is possible to overdose on “spice”? “There are a lot of emergency visits, but fatal overdoses are extremely rare,” Dr. Sack explained. “Usually if you see fatality of someone with spice it’s usually combined with other drugs — either cocaine or opiates or alcohol.”

“It’s pretty easy to get,” Dr. Sharp added, adding that mostly “younger kids” abuse the drug.

In the lead-up to her hospitalization, an increasingly rail-thin Moore was also spotted partying and downing Red Bulls — 12 cans in one evening, according to one source.

“It’s definitely high caffeine and high glucoses. So you get a high-energy rush from it,” Sharp explained of the drink. “Most people can’t tolerate more than two or three, so, to be able to drink that much she must have developed a tolerance.”

Warned Sharp: “You might have decreased appetite, elevated blood pressure or can lead to dehydration.”