Originally Posted by
juicefree20
My take on this "battle" is that it's much ado about nothing.
For one thing, if you look at this clip, you'll see Aretha walking out & looking around that room as everyone applauds. She taking the equivalent of a victory lap & isn't focusing on any one individual.
Now if you've ever observed her, you understand completely that she takes her title "Queen OF Soul" quite seriously & as we saw with the whole hub bub when Michelle Obama dared to embrace royalty, you DON'T touch royalty, especially if they haven't initiated it.
Notice that as she was basking in the applause NO ONE attempted to touch her. I don't believe that it was so much a matter of her "throwing shade", as it was "This is my moment, I'm getting my adulation from my loving subjects, so let me keep the spotlight on me & I'll talk with you later".
Now what I can tell you from personal experience is that touching Aretha in ANY way without her reaching out to you first is a NO NO & I mean, A NO-NO! And if you've ever been backstage & have observed the happenings, you'd know what I mean.
I've met hundreds of our artists over the years & each & every one of them have tended to do something to make that picture more personal. Either they lightly touch you, put their hand or arm on your shoulder, or even put their hand around your waist. But when I took a picture with Aretha, I instinctively did what all of the artists I've met did & put my hand on her shoulder. A handler politely slapped my hand off of her shoulder & in a low but deadly serious voice said "Don't touch her!"
And notice that when you do see Aretha interacting, she usually extends HER hand to be shaken, like royalty. I don't recall seeing very many instances of warm & fuzzy hugs between her & anyone in recent years.
As I said, she takes that "Queen" thing VERY SERIOUSLY.
And what I don't see anyone speaking about on Facebook nor anywhere else for that matter, is two things...
1. As Aretha sang, Patti could CLEARLY be seen singing along with her & didn't seem to be shook, much less upset about the situation
and most importantly [[and I don't know why so many chose to overlook this)
2. After leaving the stage, upon her exit, she initiated a dialogue with Patti & actually can be hugging her just before the clip comes to an end.
I wanted to post the clip of the WHOLE CLIP that shows how this ended, but it seems to have been taken down from youtube.
I believe that it was more a case of Aretha basking in the spotlight & not wanting that moment to be interfered with by ANYONE, Patti or otherwise. From observing Aretha on the few occasions that I have stood next to her & observed, I believe that that would've been her response to anyone who put hands on her without her blessing it first.
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