Aretha Franklin slams false reports of riff over Whitney Houston’s funeral

Aretha Franklin has come out swinging hard against false reports that Cissy Houston banned Aretha from attending Whitney Houston’s funeral after comments she made on the “Today Show”.

The Queen of Soul is not holding back, as she names specific media outlets.

In the interview, Franklin was asked about the pitfalls of the industry and told Today’s Al Rocker

“Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home. They have to make sure when they leave home, they have all the right things. (Whitney) left home with all the right things, but she just kind of lost her way along the way.”

After a Radio City Music Hall concert, Franklin was supposed to perform at her god daughter’s funeral in Newark, NJ, but she canceled early morning due to leg cramps.

In an official statement Aretha Franklin said:

“Extra TV, the New York Post and Newsday (New York) should stop the BS. Cissy Houston and I have been longtime friends for almost 50 years. I have four invitations and parking passes that were sent to me for the funeral. Extra TV, the New York Post and Newsday (New York) are more interested in sensationalism and negative speculations than the truth.

“People are getting their information from the wrong source. The intelligent and the thoughtful thing to do would be to respect and have some sensitivity to the moment. If you don’t know how, at least try. Cissy does not need ridiculous speculation and neither do I — particularly at this time. Also, with respect to the ‘Today Show,’ my entire statement was pretaped. However, the ‘Today Show’ did not air the part of my statement, which said, ‘This is no reflection on Cissy or Nippy’s upbringing.’

“Knowing Cissy as well as I do, I know Whitney left home right and properly. I was generalizing and it was a well-intended statement for any young adult coming into the music industry. I was not speaking of anyone specifically.”