Aretha Franklin’s Family Slams Pastor’s ‘Offensive’ Eulogy

Aretha Franklin’s family on Monday dragged the minister at her memorial service for delivering a eulogy that was “offensive and distasteful” while failing to respect the Queen of Soul.

Vaughn Franklin, the late artist’s nephew, condemned Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. for belittling single mothers and the Black Lives Matter movement amid a discourse intended to respect the iconic singer about a week ago.

“He spoke for 50 minutes and at no time did he properly eulogize her,” Vaughn Franklin said, in a statement delivered for the family.

His eulogy “caught the entire family off guard,” he added. “It has been very, very distasteful.”

Williams heard opposition from Stevie Wonder who shouted out “Black lives matter” after the minister stated, “No, Black lives do not matter” during his tribute.

The eulogist portrayed kids being in a fatherless home as “abortion after birth” and said Black lives don’t matter unless Blacks stop killing each other.

He additionally said “there are not fathers in the home no more” and said that a Black woman can’t raise a Black boy to be a man. Some people felt like this was disrespectful to Aretha Franklin, who is a single mother of four kids.

The family chose Williams since he has talked at other family commemorations before, most conspicuously at the memorial service for Franklin’s dad, serve and social liberties extremist C.L. Franklin, 34 years back.

Williams has not called it quits from anything he said at the burial service and said he regards the family’s conclusion. “I understand it,” he said. “I regret it. But I’m sorry they feel that way.”

Vaughn Franklin said the minister’s words were lamentable in light of the fact that every other person who took an interest in the service was respectful.