Whitney Houston Estate Disappointed in Golden Globes Death Joke

This year's Golden Globes host, Jerrod Carmichael, garnered gasps when he mentioned Whitney Houston's death during the show -- something the estate was equally shocked by.

Pat Houston -- Whitney's longtime manager and sister-in-law -- tells TMZ through a rep ... "The Whitney Houston Estate is disappointed in the joke, and felt it was in poor taste." Pat is the sole executor of the estate, BTW ... so she controls all things Whitney-related.

As for whether Carmichael's joke was alerted to anyone connected to Whitney prior to Tuesday's broadcast -- sources with direct knowledge tell us nobody was given a heads-up.

It's unclear if anyone at NBC knew JC was going to mention Whitney during his hosting gig -- in the moment, his remark seemed off the cuff ... and it very well may have been.

In case you missed it ... after the Globes came back from commercial break at one point, Carmichael said he had been asked to shout out the venue, after which he quipped ... "So, we are here, live, from the hotel that killed Whitney Houston, the Beverly Hilton."

Of course, he's referring to the fact Whitney overdosed in one of the hotel rooms back in 2012. Some folks laughed, but a lot more seemed taken aback and others even groaned.

It was just one of the controversial moments from Jerrod -- another came when he mentioned Shelly Miscavige ... a high-ranking Scientologist who's been out of public view for years.