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The Bishop Who Appeared to Grope Ariana Grande at Aretha Franklin's Funeral Has Apologized


Aretha Franklin‘s eight-hour funeral in Detroit on Friday celebrated the life of the soul legend in A-list style, complete with a parade of pink Cadillacs and musical tributes from stars like Ariana Grande and Stevie Wonder. However, controversy erupted when Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, who was officiating the service, brought Grande onstage to perform in honor of the soul pioneer. As he introduced her, viewers watched in horror as he tightened a hand well above her waist—placing it instead around the side of her breast—and held her for an uncomfortably long time. After intense backlash from people shocked that they’d just apparently witnessed a woman groped in public, Bishop Ellis has now apologized, saying he didn’t intend to touch Grande inappropriately.

“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast. … I don’t know I guess I put my arm around her,” Ellis said in an interview with the Associated Press. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize.”

Ellis went on to say that he had embraced all of the performers: “I hug all the female artists and the male artists. Everybody that was up, I shook their hands and hugged them. That’s what we are all about in the church. We are all about love.”

Grande appeared uneasy as the bishop kept his arm on her and made a crack about her last name sounding like an item from a Taco Bell menu, a comment for which he’s also apologized.

“I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” Ellis told the AP. “When you’re doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there.”

Online, Twitter users were outraged: They launched a #RespectAriana hashtag and retweeted videos that captured the incident.

After the alarming introduction, Grande launched into a stunning cover of “Natural Woman,” reprising her performance on Jimmy Fallon’s show just after Franklin’s death. However, that moment was sadly overshadowed, too, as many people noted former President Bill Clinton watching her intently from behind. Grande had drawn attention for wearing a short dress to the event, and Twitter users quickly defended her, reminding the world that a woman’s outfit is never an invitation from men.

That these events unfolded at a funeral, of all places, is even more outrageous—especially because it was a service paying homage a woman who always lifted up women in her music. Ellis recognized that his behavior and joke had eclipsed what should have been a respectful memorial to Franklin, adding in his interview with the AP that “the last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.” Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

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Ariana Grande Sang a Beautiful Cover of 'Natural Woman' at Aretha Franklin's Funeral


Aretha Franklin’s funeral took place in Detroit on Friday, August 31, and several celebrities and notable figures were in attendance. One of those people was Ariana Grande, who honored the Queen of Soul during the service by singing a cover of her hit song “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”

The Sweetener singer took the stage roughly halfway through the funeral, wearing a black dress and her signature high ponytail. (Her fiancé, Pete Davidson, was also in attendance.) Her rendition of “Natural Woman” was stunning, of course; her vocals were soft and lovely, and she hit the difficult notes in the song with style and aplomb. The performance was received by a hearty applause from the thousands of people in attendance, including many of Franklin’s direct family members.

Watch the performance for yourself, below:

Franklin’s funeral has been intensely covered all day. Photographers snapped pictures of Davidson and Grande first arriving to the service. The couple was affectionately holding hands in one of the shots.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

They also took time to chat with Hillary and Bill Clinton, who both attended Franklin’s service, as well.

US-Entertainment-music-FRANKLIN

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

US-Entertainment-music-FRANKLIN

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Other public figures who were present for the service included Gladys Knight, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Jennifer Hudson.

This isn’t the first time Grande’s paid homage to Franklin. She sang “Natural Woman” on August 16 (the day Franklin passed away) while appearing on The Tonight Show.

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“We sang at the White House and she was so sweet and she was like so cute and I was like, ‘how are you a real person?’,” Grande said on The Tonight Show about meeting Franklin. “It’s an honor to have met her and we are going to celebrate her.”

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Madonna Just Responded to the Backlash Over Her Aretha Franklin Speech at the VMAs


Madonna caught a lot of heat last night (August 20) at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards after she gave a speech to honor Aretha Frankin—who passed away last week—that was all about herself. The tribute started off strong—”Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life,” she said—but soon descended into a stream-of-consciousness monologue about the early stages of Madonna’s career. The tie she made to Franklin was loose: Madonna explained that during one of her early auditions, she asked to sing “Respect” on the fly because she had nothing else prepared. In fact, if Franklin’s face wasn’t projected onto the screen behind Madonna, this wouldn’t have felt like a tribute at all.

Which is why Franklin’s fans are so upset. Hundreds of people took to Twitter to criticize Madonna’s speech, accusing her of erasure, cultural appropriation, and self-indulgence. Madonna didn’t respond to the backlash last night, but she just took to Instagram this afternoon (August 21) to address it.

“Just to clarify: I was asked to present Video of the Year by MTV,” Madonna captioned a photo of herself and Camila Cabello, who ultimately took home that award. “And then they asked me to share any anecdotes I had in my career connected to Aretha Franklin! I shared a part of my journey and thanked Aretha for inspiring me along the way. I did not intend to do a tribute to her! That would be impossible in 2 minutes with all the noise and tinsel of an award show. I could never do her justice in this context or environment. Unfortunately most people have short attention spans, and are so quick to judge. I love Aretha!”

Check out Madonna’s Instagram post for yourself, below:

That being said, Franklin fans on Twitter still aren’t letting Madonna off the hook. The responses criticizing her speech are still coming in—and they’re pointed:

MTV hasn’t responded to the backlash yet, but stay tuned.

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We Need to Talk About Madonna's 'Tribute' to Aretha Franklin at the 2018 VMAs


Days before the MTV Video Music Awards aired, the show’s executive producer Jesse Ignatovic told Variety that the 2018 VMAs’ “level of production is probably greater than we’ve ever done.” Even with the scrambling to produce a new segment honoring Aretha Franklin, who died Thursday of pancreatic cancer, there was “big focus” to make sure “whatever we do is true to her art.”

“We don’t want to do anything too kooky,” Ignatovic said.

But then, on Monday night, Madonna drifted out on stage in a black kaftan complete with a headdress, a layering of necklaces, colorful beaded cuffs, and swinging four blonde braids. A photo of the late Queen of Soul was plastered behind her, but something was off. This was the tribute we were waiting for? Madonna, dripping in gentrified cultural appropriation, was going to honor the genius behind a whole genre of music, a woman who mastered the art of speaking to and for black women in robust notes of song?

Apparently so. Madonna launched into a story that seemed to center Franklin’s impact on music at first. “Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life,” she said. “I left Detroit when I was 18. Thirty-five dollars in my pocket. My dream was to make it as a professional dancer. After years of struggling and being broke, I decided to go to auditions for musical theater.”

However, the speech quickly devolved into a tribute to herself. “I had no training or dreams of ever becoming a singer but I went for it,” she said, setting up a story about an audition where she sang one of Franklin’s songs. “I got cut and rejected from every audition—not tall enough, not blend-in enough, not 12-octave range enough, not pretty enough. Not enough. And then one day a French disco sensation was looking for backup singers and dancers for his world tour. I thought, ‘Why not? The worst that can happen is I can go back to getting robbed, held at gunpoint and being mistaken for a prostitute in my third floor walkup that was also a crackhouse.’ That’s right, I’m a Rebel Heart.”

This was the tone for most of the speech, which had Twitter users raising their eyebrows:

Let’s be clear about why this is a problem: This is erasure. This is white feminism, very loosely defined as not feminism at all, but rather a disregard for how women of color fare with sexism, racism, ableism, etc. while white women protect white privilege. In Madonna’s case, this means propping up Franklin in a way that appears to honor her, while in fact checking off a box for herself. And never forget: This is a woman who once used the N-word on social media.

In this way, Madonna made the death of a national treasure like Franklin about…what, Madonna’s audition? It’s demeaning and insulting—and definitely not the tribute Franklin deserves. And I’m not alone about this:

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The Obamas Just Published a Beautiful Tribute to Aretha Franklin


Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul, passed away on Thursday (August 16) after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Several public figures have paid tribute to Franklin on social media, and now Barack and Michelle Obama are adding their voices to the chorus. If you remember, the trio enjoyed a well-publicized friendship while Obama was still in the White House. It began with Franklin putting on a show-stopping, cry-your-eyes-out performance at his first presidential inauguration.

“American has no royalty. But we do have a chance to earn something more enduring,” the Obamas wrote in a statement obtained by TMZ. “Born in Memphis and raised in Detroit, Aretha Franklin grew up performing gospel songs in her father’s congregation. For more than six decades since, every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine. Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel out history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance. Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. Michelle and I send our prayers and warmest sympathies to her family and all those moved by her song.”

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Obama also released an additional tweet with some of his favorite White House photos of Franklin. “Aretha helped define the American experience,” he added. “In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace.” Michelle added: “She will forever be our Queen of Soul.”

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Aretha Franklin: Most Iconic Fashion Moments


Aretha Franklin passed away on Thursday, leaving behind a legacy that includes 18 Grammy Awards, 17 top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and six decades’ worth of music. The Queen of Soul touched lives all over the world, with her talent and always-memorable performances, which were amplified by her delightfully extravagant sense of style.

In terms of both her music and her fashion, Franklin has been referred to as the ultimate diva—her on-stage outfits as dramatic as her four-octave voice. Up until her retirement from performing in 2017, feathers, sequins, and fringe were her signatures. The silhouettes evolved over the years, from form-fitting dresses in the sixties to eccentric caftans in the nineties, but her joyful, luxurious approach to dressing remained, emphasizing Franklin’s star power.

Her approach to fashion wasn’t always praised, but Franklin always had the perfect response. In the ’90s, when a New York Post writer said that Franklin was too “bosomy” for the clothing she wore, she had a confident reply: “You are hardly in a position to determine what separates stars from divas since you are neither one nor an authority on either.”

Indeed, Aretha Franklin embodied the very essence of what it means to be a “diva.” From her first number one single in 1967 up until her later appearances in 2017, her wardrobe was admirably over-the-top and commanded respect. Ahead, we remember the decorated artist with 30 of her most iconic looks.

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