Your Auntie Ree Ree is apparently the champion of petty and the queen of holding a grudge in addition to being the Queen of Soul, because she lashed out at Dionne Warwick on Tuesday over something the Psychic Friend said five years ago at Whitney Houston’s funeral.
The Associated Press reports that Franklin contacted the newswire by phone Tuesday to discuss a “libelous” statement she said Warwick made about her at Houston’s funeral when she told those in attendance that Franklin was there and introduced her, only to realize that Franklin was, in fact, not at the funeral.
“’Ree’s not here, but she is here,” Warwick said, referring to Franklin by a nickname. “She loves Whitney as if she were born to her. She is her godmother.”
Franklin told AP that at the time, she was suffering from swollen feet and had skipped the funeral so that she would be able to perform later that evening at Radio City Music Hall, a performance she said she was contractually obligated to do.
In the days after the funeral, Cissy Houston reportedly clarified that it was, in fact, Darlene Love, not Franklin, who was Whitney’s godmother, but Franklin felt the damage to her reputation had already been done. She had planned to address it at another time because she didn’t want to add to the turmoil of an already stressful day.
For Franklin, that time is now.
She told AP that she is not interested in an apology from Warwick.
“I don’t care about her apology. At this point it isn’t about an apology, it’s about libel,” Franklin said.
“We’ve never been friends, and I don’t think that Dionne has ever liked me,” Franklin added.
According to AP, a representative for Warwick said, “She will not dignify a response to the statement made by Aretha Franklin.”