Aretha Franklin is serious about joining American Idol for a season or two and Kathie Lee Gifford will not stand in her way.
During a segment on the ‘Today’ show Tuesday morning, Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee were talking with E! correspondent Jason Kennedy about Aretha’s plea to Fox executives. Kathie, who’s has one major gaffe under her belt this year with Martin Short scored another one when she stated,
“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.”
The E! correspondent didn’t help things when he added Aretha’s known fear of flying,
“She does not fly. She needs to get over that (doing ‘Idol’)”
It didn’t take long for the Queen of Soul to respond via an email to CNN,
“While I enjoy Kathie Lee and Hoda daily, her assessment is totally wrong!” Franklin began.
“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,” added Aretha in response to Kennedy’s comment.
“Further, my 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! She’s usually right on top of things with a great sense of humor, but she’s totally wrong this time. She should research me before she speaks about me. I’m sure she thought she was right; still enjoy Hoda and Kathie Lee!”
Sounds like no hard feelings in the end. And just for good measure Aretha reiterated her interest in American Idol.
“I could enjoy being a judge for a season or two. Let’s kick it up a few notches and have a slammin’, jammin’ season.”
Charlie Sheen has also put in his bid.
