Bishop apologises to Ariana Grande
‘Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologise’
Images show preacher’s hand holding the star well above her waist, with his fingers pressing against one side of her chest |
The bishop who officiated Aretha Franklin’s funeral apologised on Friday to Ariana Grande for how he touched her onstage and a joke he made about her name.
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III led Franklin’ys funeral and awkwardly greeted Grande on stage after she performed “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
Images showed Ellis’ hand holding Grande well above her waist, with his fingers pressing against one side of her chest. The preacher apologised in an interview with journalists at the cemetery where Franklin was interred late Friday.
“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. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologise.”
He said he hugged all the performers during Friday’s eight-hour service.
“I hug all the female artists and the male artists,” Ellis 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.”
Many people posted close-up images of the moment on Twitter, tagging it #RespectAriana.
Ellis also apologised to Grande, her fans and Hispanic community for making a joke about seeing her name on the program and thinking it was a new item on the Taco Bell menu.
“I personally and sincerely apologise 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.”
Short dress
Ellis’ touching of Grande overshadowed some criticism earlier in the ceremony the short dress Grande wore for her performance. Numerous people posted criticisms online that the dress was too short for church.
“#ArianaGrande don’t know the below the knee rule for the pulpit in the black church. Somebody hand her a lap hankie and a choir robe. Bless her heart,” tweeted one, Tenisha Taylor Bell.
Grande’s representative did not return an email message seeking comment Friday.
Ariana Grande belted an Aretha Franklin standard at the Queen of Soul’s homegoing in a black dress so short it got the social media choir going.
As former president Bill Clinton sat behind her with a big smile on his face, Grande appeared nervous as she made her way to the front of Greater Grace Temple, apparently unclear where she was supposed to stand for her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman.
She found her footing, though, and made it through, collecting an awkward hug from Bishop Charles H. Ellis III of Greater Grace when she was finished.
On Twitter, Grande’s dress was criticised as too short for church.
“#ArianaGrande don’t know the below the knee rule for the pulpit in the black church. Somebody hand her a lap hanky and a choir robe. Bless her heart,” tweeted one, Tenisha Taylor Bell.
But Grande was supported online by fans and others when she seemed uncomfortable with the way Ellis was touching her on stage as he towered over her. His hand was well above her waist, with the fingers of one hand pressing against one side of her chest.