Over the weekend, Ariana Grande performed at Aretha Franklin’s funeral to honour the late star.
However, what everyone can’t stop talking about is how pastor Charles H. Ellis III at the service treated Ariana, and Twitter is ANGRY.
Firstly, you can see how uncomfortable Ariana is as his arms are wrapped tightly around her waist, and he starts to get handsy with her breast.
Secondly, he offends the entire Hispanic community by saying “I thought that [Ariana Grande] was a new something at Taco Bell”.
Yikes.
Since the backlash, Ellis has apologised:
“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. 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. The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”
He also addressed his Taco Bell comment:
“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.”
If you, or someone you know, has experienced sexual harassment in any way, speak confidentially to a trained counsellor 24 hours a day:
Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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