Read this disturbing story:
Bishop at Aretha Franklin’s Funeral Apologizes to Ariana Grande for Touching Her, Taco Bell Joke
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III has apologized to Ariana Grande for the way he behaved towards her at Aretha Franklin’s funeral.
During an interview with the Associated Press at the cemetery where Franklin was laid to rest following her 8-hour “Celebration of Life” funeral service on Friday, Ellis expressed regret for the way he touched the singer onstage and for saying he initially thought the 25-year-old singer was a new menu item at Taco Bell.
“I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” Ellis said. “When you’re doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there.”
He also apologized for touching Grande too close to her chest during their televised interaction.
Ariana Grande and Bishop Charles H. Ellis III
“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 continued. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize.”
Continuing, he added: “The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”
Ariana Grande
After watching Grande honor the late Queen of Soul at the service, the American Apostolic Pentecostal preacher said that, “When I saw Ariana Grande on the program, I thought that was a new something at Taco Bell.”
“My 28-year-old daughter tells me, ‘Dad! You are old at 60’ ” he joked.
In the moment, Grande appeared to take the joke in stride, as she proceeded to laugh and give Ellis a hug.
“Girl, let me give you all your respect,” Ellis then remarked. “Did you enjoy this icon? She is an icon herself. Come on, make her feel loved.”
There is absolutely no reason this incident should have happened. This was done at a FUNERAL (is nothing sacred anymore?) of one of the world’s greatest singers (who demanded respect in one of her songs, which clearly was not shown to Ariana Grande), long after so many Catholic priests have been condemned for sexual abuse of children and the “MeToo” movement has highlighted the problems with sexual abuse and sexual harassment of women by powerful men…….and yet it happened anyway.
An apology cannot be enough. This Bishop should be defrocked and banned from serving in a clerical position in any religious institution. If he did this idiotic act in public, what the hell could he be doing in private?
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Here’s another troubling issue from that funeral:
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45406434
{{{Aretha Franklin’s family found eulogy ‘distasteful’
By Mark Savage BBC Music reporter
Aretha Franklin’s family have said that they found the closing eulogy at her funeral offensive and distasteful.
The Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. said black America was losing “its soul” and described children raised without a father as “abortion after birth”.
“He spoke for 50 minutes and at no time did he properly eulogise her,” said Vaughn Franklin, the singer’s nephew, speaking on behalf of the family.
He added that his aunt did not choose the pastor to speak at her funeral.
Instead, the family selected Williams because he had spoken at other family memorials, including the funeral of Franklin’s father, the minister and civil rights activist CL Franklin.
“We feel that Rev. Jasper Williams, Jr. used this platform to push his negative agenda, which as a family, we do not agree with,” the family said.
The pastor’s fiery, old-school sermon received a mixed response in the church on Friday. Some of the congregation could be heard whispering: “Talk about Aretha!” but others gave the speech a standing ovation.
Many felt his comments about single parent families were offensive, especially as Franklin raised four children by herself.
Others were incensed by his assertion that: “Black lives must not matter until black people start respecting black lives and stop killing ourselves.”
Stevie Wonder, who played immediately after Rev. Williams’ eulogy, seemed to address those comments, saying: “We need to make love great again because black lives do matter. Because all lives do matter.”
The pastor has not backed down from anything he said at the funeral, and said he respects the family’s opinion.
“I understand it,” he said. “I regret it. But I’m sorry they feel that way.”
Responding to criticism of his eulogy at the weekend, he said some of his comments had been misunderstood.
“I’m sure much of the negativity is due to the fact that they don’t understand what I’m talking about,” he said.
“Anybody who thinks black America is all right as we are now is crazy. We’re not all right. It’s a lot of change that needs to occur. This change must come from within us.
“It is ludicrous for the church not to be involved. The church is the only viable institution we have in the African-American community. We must step up and turn our race around.”
Vaughn Franklin said the speech had “caught the entire family off guard,” as they had not discussed the content of the eulogy in advance.
“It has been very, very distasteful,” he said. It was unfortunate, he added, because all the other speakers and performers had been respectful.}}}