The preacher at Aretha Franklin’s recent funeral service has apologised for his actions which appeared to show him ‘groping’ pop singer Ariana Grande.
On Friday afternoon, legions of Aretha Franklin’s friends, family, and musical colleagues gathered at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple to pay tribute to the late soul icon for a service that was livestreamed around the world.
One such guest at the service happened to be none other than US pop singer Ariana Grande, who performed her own rendition of ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ in honour of Franklin.
However, it was what happened after the performance that left fans around the world talking, with Bishop Charles Ellis accused of inappropriately touching the singer during his following remarks which also involved joking that her name sounded like a new item at Mexican restaurant chain Taco Bell.
Now, as Variety notes, Bishop Charles Ellis has apologised following widespread backlash to his actions, noting that it was ‘never his intention’ to act in an inappropriate manner.
“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast,” Ellis explained. “I don’t know I guess I put my arm around her.”
“Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize.”
“I hug all the female artists and the male artists,” he continued. “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.”
“The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”
Likewise, Bishop Charles Ellis also apologised for his comments about Ariana Grande’s name, extending his regrets to the entire Hispanic community for remarks which have since been labelled as racist on social media.
“I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” Ellis stated. “When you’re doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there.”
Check out Aretha Franklin’s cover of ‘Respect’:
