Aretha Franklin Funeral Bishop Apologises For ‘Groping’ Ariana Grande

The bishop who led Aretha Franklin‘s funeral has apologised to Ariana Grande for how he touched her while onstage.Bishop Charles H Ellis III also expressed regret over a joke he made about her name. A video of the moment the bishop wrapped his arm around Grande after she performed Franklin’s (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman has been shared widely online.In the video his hand appears to touch the side of her breast. Many viewers expressed outrage over the clip, and within hours the hashtag #RespectAriana was trending worldwide with 90,000 tweets. “It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast… I don’t know I guess I put my arm around her,” Bishop Ellis said. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologise.”The preacher said he hugged all the performers during Friday’s seven-hour service. “I hug all the female artists and the male artists,” he said. “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.” He added: “The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”Photo Credit: Getty

Leave a Reply