Aretha Franklin Family Says Pastor’s Eulogy Was “Offensive and Distasteful”

Aretha Franklin Family Says Pastor’s Eulogy Was “Offensive and Distasteful”

By alisafarov

photo credit: alisafarov // Shutterstock

Aretha Franklin probably had one of the longest funerals we have EVER seen, lasting 8 hours. With performances and words given by former presidents and over 20 artists, it was definitely a home-going worth seeing. One thing the family was not moved by was the eulogy given by Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. who spent about 50-minutes belittling single mothers and the Black Lives Matter movement instead of giving respects to the Queen of Soul.

“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.”

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.

Williams was chosen because he spoke a Aretha’s father’s funeral 34 years ago. Williams says, “I’m sorry they feel that way.”

Written by Clarke Jones

Facebook

Instagram