--- title: President Obama Misspells Respect During Women of Soul Event description: While praising the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, president tells White House audience a little something about "R-S-P-E-C-T" canonical: https://time.com/15556/barack-obama-aretha-franklin-respect/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-07T12:55:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:38:38.111Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Misspells Respect During Women of Soul Event og:description: While praising the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, president tells White House audience a little something about "R-S-P-E-C-T" og:url: https://time.com/15556/barack-obama-aretha-franklin-respect/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Misspells Respect During Women of Soul Event twitter:description: While praising the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, president tells White House audience a little something about "R-S-P-E-C-T" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Obama Flubs Spelling of 'Respect' During Aretha Franklin Tribute by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 7, 2014 12:55 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 7, 2014 12:55 PM UTC During a tribute to Women of Soul at the White House on [Thursday](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-botches-spelling-of-respect-while-lauding-aretha-franklin/), President Barack Obama accidentally misspelled “respect” while introducing the so-called Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. “When Aretha first told us what… R-S-P-E-C-T meant to her,” Obama said as the audience roared with laughter. He paused briefly before continuing, “She had no idea it would become a rallying cry for African Americans and women and anyone else who felt marginalized because of what they looked like, who they loved. They wanted some respect.” The 71-year-old singer later performed twice, [CBS reports](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-botches-spelling-of-respect-while-lauding-aretha-franklin/), singing “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” and “Amazing Grace.” The tribute and performances were a part of a star-studded White House Women of Soul concert, honoring an array of singers during Women’s History Month. The event featured performances by Janelle Monae, Patti LaBelle, Ariana Grande, and Melissa Etheridge. The full concert will air on PBS on April 7. \[[_CBS News_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-botches-spelling-of-respect-while-lauding-aretha-franklin/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/15556/barack-obama-aretha-franklin-respect/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/15556/barack-obama-aretha-franklin-respect/"},"headline":"Obama Flubs Spelling of 'Respect' During Aretha Franklin Tribute","datePublished":"2014-03-07T12:55:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:38:38.111Z","description":"While praising the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, president tells White House audience a little something about \"R-S-P-E-C-T\"","url":"https://time.com/15556/barack-obama-aretha-franklin-respect/","keywords":["White House","President Obama","Concert","Aretha Franklin","Ariana Grande"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/15556/barack-obama-aretha-franklin-respect/","name":"Obama Flubs Spelling of 'Respect' During Aretha Franklin Tribute"}}]}] ```