Aretha Franklin has allegedly had beef with a good amount of fellow divas over the years, but this latest one is the boldest.
As reported by AP, the Queen of Soul faxed the news service a long message to let them know that she believes Dionne Warwick is “libelous” for statements made at Whitney Houston’s 2012 funeral.
At said funeral, Warwick, who was often referred to as Houston’s godmother, shaded Franklin when addressing attendees. “Ree’s not here, but she is here,” Warwick said about Franklin’s absence. “She loves Whitney as if she were born to her. She is her godmother.”
But according to Franklin, she was never Houston’s godmother, met the iconic singer as a child, but never agreed to be her godmother because she didn’t have the time. She also says she missed the funeral because her feet were swollen and had a contractual obligation to perform at Radio City Music Hall.
“She blatantly lied on me… fully well knowing what she was doing,” Franklin said in a follow-up phone interview with the AP.
“There’s been so much going on around her (Houston), around the service, around the drugs, around her and Bobby (Brown) supposed to be fighting, I didn’t want to add anything to that and I didn’t want to be a part of that.”
If you’re wondering what sparked this whole feud, Franklin and Warwick had a run-in at Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives concert on Wednesday, April 19 at Radio City Music Hall.
Franklin says she ran into Warwick backstage, since they both performed.
“She [Warwick] said, ‘Give me a hug.’ I said, ‘Oh hell no. You couldn’t be serious,'” Franklin said.
When asked if she wanted an apology from Warwick, she said: “I don’t care about her apology, at this point it isn’t about an apology, it’s about libel.” Adding, “We’ve never been friends and I don’t think that Dionne has ever liked me.”
Welp.