Tribute confusion: Fox News apologizes for mixing up late Aretha Franklin with Patti LaBelle

Fox News had to apologize for an embarrassing mistake in its tribute to the late Aretha Franklin. The TV channel mixed up a photo of ‘Queen of Soul’ Franklin with the ‘Godmother of Soul’ Patti LaBelle.

“We sincerely apologize to Aretha Franklin’s family and friends,” Jessica Santostefano, Fox News vice president, said in a statement. She added that the channel’s intention had been to honor the soul superstar who passed away on Thursday at the age of 76.

The 10-minute tribute video, released by Fox News, contained an image of another singer, Patti LaBelle, who hails from the same generation as Franklin. LaBelle, 74, is a renowned artist in her own right, often dubbed the ‘Godmother of Soul.’

As Fox’s mistake was immediately noticed by social media users, the channel claimed it had used “a secondary image” of Franklin “performing with Patti LaBelle.” The explanation led to even more confusion, since the channel used LaBelle’s shot from a 2014 concert at the White House, hosted by then-president Barack Obama. While both women performed during the event, they didn’t actually share a stage together.

Although the media frequently portrayed Franklin and LaBelle as bitter rivals, the women publicly stated that they had always been friends. In her own tribute to Franklin, LaBelle called the late singer her “sister in song.”

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