--- title: Bishop Apologizes for Touching Ariana Grande at Funeral description: The bishop at Aretha Franklin's star-studded funeral is apologizing for getting too touchy with singer Ariana Grande. canonical: https://time.com/5384940/bishop-apologizes-ariana-grande-aretha-franklin-funeral/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-01T19:43:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:19:14.055Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Bishop Apologizes for 'Too Friendly' Hug With Ariana Grande at Aretha Franklin's Funeral og:description: "Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar.. I apologize" og:url: https://time.com/5384940/bishop-apologizes-ariana-grande-aretha-franklin-funeral/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45fec7948a021160/69893942e76ad26d2d632e47/ariana-grande-bishop.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ariana Grande With Bishop Charles H. Ellis, III og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bishop Apologizes for 'Too Friendly' Hug With Ariana Grande at Aretha Franklin's Funeral twitter:description: "Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar.. I apologize" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45fec7948a021160/69893942e76ad26d2d632e47/ariana-grande-bishop.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bishop Apologizes for 'Too Friendly' Hug With Ariana Grande at Aretha Franklin's Funeral by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 1, 2018 7:43 PM UTC  Bishop Charles H. Ellis, III, right, speaks with Ariana Grande after she performed during the funeral service for Aretha Franklin at Greater Grace Temple, in Detroit Bishop Charles H. Ellis, III, right, speaks with Ariana Grande after she performed during the funeral service for Aretha Franklin at Greater Grace Temple, in DetroitPaul Sancya/AP/REX/Shutterstock by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Sep 1, 2018 7:43 PM UTC The bishop at Aretha Franklin’s star-studded funeral is apologizing for getting too touchy with singer Ariana Grande. Bishop Charles H. Ellis III has issued an apology after receiving criticism for seemingly touching Ariana Grande’s breast while on stage. “It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast,” Ellis told the Associated Press. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar.. I apologize.” Grande was one of the [stars paying tribute](http://time.com/5384105/ariana-grande-aretha-funeral/) to the “Queen of Soul” on Friday. Following Grande’s performance of Franklin’s hit “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Ellis spoke with her at the podium and wrapped his arms around the singer. Some pointed out that Grande did not seem entirely comfortable with the contact. Ellis said he did not single Grande out and that he hugged everyone on stage, male or female. “I hug all the female artists and the male artists,” the Bishop told the AP. “Everybody that was up, I shook their hands and hugged them. That’s what we are all about in the church. We are all about love. The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5384940/bishop-apologizes-ariana-grande-aretha-franklin-funeral/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5384940/bishop-apologizes-ariana-grande-aretha-franklin-funeral/"},"headline":"Bishop Apologizes for 'Too Friendly' Hug With Ariana Grande at Aretha Franklin's Funeral","datePublished":"2018-09-01T19:43:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:19:14.055Z","description":"\"Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar.. 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