This was a story of Aretha her musical genius and I don’t know why the family were hating on this story it was well done. This a great series. I love this and I am Aretha fan.
National Geographic’s scripted “Genius: Aretha” debuted Sunday, but the family of Aretha Franklin was quick to say they didn’t approve of the work even before the eight-part series started streaming.
The Franklin family claimed they were given not even a little respect — and largely left out of the production process for “Genius: Aretha.” The family added they believe that will lead to some major inaccuracies in the on-screen version of Aretha’s life, which sees her played by Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo.
“Genius: Aretha” spans eight episodes chronicling the Queen of Soul’s personal trials on the road to superstardom.
National Geographic didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
The producers told the Los Angeles Times, “the studio worked diligently to attain the endorsement of Aretha’s estate, which we are grateful to have. We worked with many people who knew Ms. Franklin — from Clive Davis to members of her family’s estate — to make sure we told her story in an honest and authentic way. This series is called ‘Genius’ — it is a tribute to Aretha’s genius — something we hope we can all celebrate.”
Two members of the Franklin family have spoken out, including Aretha’s son, Kecalf Franklin, who told Rolling Stone, “What we’ve found out in the past is that usually when people don’t want to work with you, that is a prelude to some type of unprofessional behavior or a prelude to some type of untruth or slander, so we’re not quite sure where we’re going to see in this series… That’s usually the case when people say they don’t want to work with you.”
Kecalf told Rolling Stone he hasn’t seen any clips from the show, and that he and his family didn’t tune in when it released on National Geographic and Hulu on Sunday.
Prior to Kecalf speaking out, his daughter (Aretha’s granddaughter) Grace Franklin slammed the series in a TikTok video that shows her and other members of the Franklin family protesting with signs and chanting, “this movie has to go” outside the studios.
