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Aretha Franklin Fires Back After Being Dissed by NBC Morning Host

Jul 18, 2012  •  Post A Comment

Aretha Franklin has taken issue with comments about her on NBC’s “Today” show during a discussion between hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb that suggested the renowned singer is too old to judge "American Idol," reports CNN.com.

As previously reported, Franklin — who has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, won 18 Grammys and was ranked at the top of Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest singers of all time — is interested in joining "American Idol" as a judge.

"If they are looking for a younger demographic, there are a lot of kids out there (who) actually don’t know who Aretha Franklin is. It’s sad, but they don’t," Gifford said, according to the story.

Franklin responded in an email, which was obtained by CNN, that took issue with Gifford’s comment.

"While I enjoy Kathie Lee and Hoda daily, her assessment is totally wrong!" Franklin wrote. "[M]y audience and fans span the age of 8 to 90! And are multi-ethnic, and I am very well known to young adults, tweens and teens. Their parents play my music and I take care of my business whenever I sign on the dotted line!

"I’m surprised Kathie Lee did not research my worldwide celebrity audience!" the singer wrote.

Franklin also took issue with comments from an E! correspondent, who pointed out she doesn’t like to fly, making it hard for her to travel for auditions.

"I’ve been to California from Detroit four times this year and Florida. I go wherever I choose to go comfortably on my custom bus," Franklin wrote, according to the story.

7 Comments

  1. Oh NBC. You make my day, every day! BTW- ask any kid, and they won’t know who Kathy Lee is, but at least 95% of them will know who Aretha is…

  2. Gees, after all these years, Aretha still doesn’t get R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

  3. “I’m surprised Kathie Lee did not research my worldwide celebrity audience!”
    Kathie Lee Gifford? The host who cheerfully interviewed a man about his marriage without realizing that his wife had been dead for two years? Something tells me that “research” isn’t her strong suit.

  4. Kathy who????

  5. Seriously, Kathy Lee is questioning the appropriateness of selecting Aretha Franklin because of her age???? I wonder how old the target audience is for the Today Show since they hired her?

  6. As per Aretha Franklin not liking to fly, if I had a tour bus like hers I would never leave the ground. Here are some inside photos of it http://www.mjlegel.com/Pictures/2008/arethabus/

  7. John Madden won’t fly either. It’s never affected his ability to be in a different city each week to broadcast games. It only takes 50 hours of driving time to get from one side of the country to the other. Not an issue.

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