Aretha Franklin's family calls eulogy offensive

Aretha Franklin's nephew said his aunt never asked for Williams to eulogise her, since she didn't talk about plans for her funeral

Aretha Franklin's family said that it found an Atlanta pastor's eulogy delivered at the Queen of Soul's funeral last week offensive and distasteful. Rev Jasper Williams Jr was criticised for a political address that described children being in a home without a father as abortion after birth and said black lives do not matter unless blacks stop killing each other. Franklin's funeral was on Friday.

"He spoke for 50 minutes, and at no time did he properly eulogise her," said Vaughn Franklin, the late singer's nephew, who said he was delivering a statement for the family. Franklin said his aunt never asked for Williams to eulogise her, since she didn't talk about plans for her funeral. The family selected him because he had spoken at previous family memorials, most prominently at the funeral for Franklin's father, minister and civil rights activist CL Franklin, 34 years ago.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!