The bishop from Aretha Franklin‘s funeral, which was held today, has issued an apology to Ariana Grande after he was called out on social media for the way he hugged the singer.
#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.
Men really need to get their sh*t together pic.twitter.com/AEqr7aAi1m
— saige😮💨 (@seasonedwsaige) September 1, 2018
Social media users were quick to call out Bishop Charles H. Ellis III for the manner in which he hugged Ariana Grande, which they deemed inappropriate, using hashtag #RespectAriana.
https://twitter.com/OGvibes_/status/1035670668652806145
Bishop Ellis made a statement to The Associated Press today regarding the controversy.
“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 apologise.”
He did note that he hugged all the performers on the day.
“I hug all the female artists and the male artists. 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.”
But emphasised that he didn’t want to take away from what the day was about.
“The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”
Bishop Ellis also apologised for a joke he made regarding Ariana’s surname, in which he joked that seeing her name on the program had him thinking it was a new Taco Bell menu item.
“I personally and sincerely apologise to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community. When you’re doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there.”
People also used the hashtag #RespectAriana to call out people criticising Ariana Grande for the length of her dress.
https://twitter.com/Oumnia0bnb/status/1035674319056199680
Ariana came to show love to Aretha and celebrate her legacy and she got sexually assaulted and blasted for wearing a dress too short for other peoples liking…#RespectAriana pic.twitter.com/1v4HoIdeDD
— Ken (@Sweetnerotw) September 1, 2018
listen up uneducated swines and maniacs,
THE WAY ARIANA / WOMEN DRESS DOESN’T MEAN YES#respectariana pic.twitter.com/BRtaHy5S9g— ganda ng gf ko (@samsiIog) September 1, 2018
As yet, Ariana Grande has not commented on the incident.
