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This Video of The Bishop At Aretha Franklin’s Funeral Touching Ariana Grande Will Make You Say Ew
This Video of The Bishop At Aretha Franklin’s Funeral Touching Ariana Grande Will Make You Say Ew
He later apologized for the incident.
Although Ariana Grande may have been shaded during her performance in honor of the "Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin fans were left in shock after a bishop got too handsy at the highly-broadcasted funeral.
After finishing her moving rendition of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, Bishop Charles H Ellis III called her back to the podium to praise her performance and honor her as, “an icon herself.”
“I’ve got to apologize because I have to brush up,” he said. “My 28-year-old daughter tells me, ‘Dad, you are old at 60.’ When I saw Ariana Grande on the program, I thought that was a new something at Taco Bell. Girl, let me give you all your respect. Did y’all enjoy this icon?”
The #Arianators were not at all impressed with his praises. After the video was analyzed, many noticed that the bishop’s arm was tightly wrapped around her back, and his hand was draped extremely close to her breast locking her in an uncomfortable and awkward position.
- Keep scrolling to see the weird praise:
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During an interview with USA Today, Bishop Ellis apologized to Ariana, her Arianators, and the whole Hispanic community, even though according to the 25-year-old’s IMDb biography, Ariana is Italian-American of Sicilian and Abruzzese origin.
*Insert Facepalm Emoji*
“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.”
And also wanted everyone that it was not his intention to touch anyone’s breast.
"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, adding: "Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize."
- Cleary the apologies were too late for the Bishop. Soon Twitter was filled with the hashtag #RespectAriana.
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#RespectAriana is tending worldwide right now because Bishop Charles H. Ellis III was seen inappropriately groping Ariana Grande on live tv during Aretha Franklins funeral.
— 🌹 (@EXOTICBLVCKSKIN) September 1, 2018
Men really need to get their sh*t together pic.twitter.com/AEqr7aAi1m -
this is so disgusting what he did and she also got gross looks from clinton or whatever is his last name plus she got criticized bc of a dress?! wtf is this?! women can wear whatever they want. ari or any woman doesn’t deserve this #RespectAriana i hope u r okay @ArianaGrande pic.twitter.com/foao7Qu1IX
— - ariana grande 💭♡ (@notearsforari) September 1, 2018 -
She CLEARLY looked uncomfortable. I can't believe some would expect her to defend herself on live TV one someone else's funeral. Her dress had nothing to do with anything. What women wears will never be an invitation for assault, she never asked for it #RespectAriana
— 윌러우 ❣️ (@ilsansqueen) September 1, 2018 -
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You can see how she is backing away and her expression looks like she is scared.
— sᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ｡.✧･ﾟ:* (@summaNOTwinter) September 1, 2018
This is just gross. #RespectAriana pic.twitter.com/qL61ckVADu -
If it would be inappropriate for even a newly-wed married couple to touch each other like that on TV, maybe, just maybe, a pastor shouldn't be touching a woman he doesn't know like that?
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) September 1, 2018
&%$£ Painful to watch.🤢🤮 #RespectArianapic.twitter.com/qv6eOZHPp0
(Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images)
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