Bishop from Aretha Franklin's Funeral Apologizes to Ariana Grande for Touching Her Inappropriately
On Friday, Ariana Grande took a break from dishing about her new album Sweetener and making out with Pete Davison to honor the late Aretha Franklin by performing at her funeral.
And while the internet is in agreement that Ari's performance of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," was incredibly moving, some people are not happy about what happened after.
When Ariana finished the song, Bishop Charles H Ellis III, the master of ceremonies, called her to the podium to praise her performance. While walking with her, Ellis' arm was wrapped tightly around her back, and it looks as though he was placing his hand on her breast.
Twitter was not happy about the moment, and users have been posting their outrage with the hashtag #respectariana:
Ariana grande was sexually assaulted last night on a FUNERAL like are you fucking kidding? a woman can’t even go to a funeral anymore without people touching her boob or people staring at her ass? wow this world is messed up #respectariana & every woman on earth
- Felicia 💫 (@g3twellsoon) September 1, 2018
THIS IS SO DISGUSTING AND DISRESPECTFUL 😤#RespectAriana
pic.twitter.com/SQ4AjItXNF- ًabil [s/h] (@namufor) September 1, 2018
It’s awful how women can literally be groped on television and people will still do everything they can to blame her. The length of her dress does not give anyone the right to touch her like that. Breaks my heart. And people wonder why victims don’t come forward. #respectAriana
- Rachel 🥀 (@13swift1989) September 1, 2018
Ellis has since apologized, telling The Guardian:
It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast … 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 certainly want to apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to her entire community...And I certainly hope that she will forgive me. The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction from Mrs. Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul. This is all about her, it's not about me, and I am so sorry.
Ariana has yet to make a comment about the incident or Ellis' apology.
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