Bishop Apologises To Ariana Grande For Grabbing Her During Aretha Franklin’s Funeral
2 September 2018, 12:14 | Updated: 2 September 2018, 12:15
The Bishop has spoken out following a huge backlash...
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III has apologised for grabbing Ariana Grande above the waist following her performance at Aretha Franklin’s funeral.
The ‘God Is A Woman’ singer performed ‘(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman’ as hundreds gathered to pay their respects at the funeral in Detroit.
However following the ceremony, many fans took to social media to express their anger at the actions of Bishop Charles H. Ellis towards Ariana Grande.
He also made a joke about her name sounding like something taken from a Taco Bell menu.
I don’t care what you think about Ariana Grande, her music or her dress. This is wrong. That bishop’s hand should not be on her breast: I just saw this because I’ve been working and not watching pic.twitter.com/ixVhgYBJTN
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) September 1, 2018
Following a huge social media backlash, which included the trending hashtag #RespectAriana, the Bishop has addressed the situation.
"It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast...I don’t know I guess I put my arm around her," he told Associated Press.
“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,” 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.
“The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”
He also took time to apologise for joking about Ariana Grande’s name.
“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.”
Ariana Grande is yet to publicly address the situation or the apology.
