The bishop who led Aretha Franklin’s funeral has apologised after he was accused of groping Ariana Grande on stage.
The 25-year-old singer performed the Queen of Soul’s hit, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, which was live-streamed on Friday.
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III was leading the funeral and, following the song, he got up to greet Grande. Images of the moment show his arm wrapped around her, well above her waist, with his fingers pressing onto one side of her chest.
He also made a joke about how when he saw her name on the programme, he thought it was a new item on the menu at Taco Bell.
Many fans began to share close-up screenshots of the moment o Twitter, with the hashtag #RespectAriana.
The bishop has since apologised to Grande, as well as her fans, for what happened.
“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.”
He also added that he had hugged all of the performance during the eight-hour service.
He continued:
“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 further apologised to Grande for the comment he made about her name.
The bishop added:
“I personally and sincerely apologize 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.”
