A video shared online shows the moment Bishop Charles H Ellis III appeared to touch the singer inappropriately as he hugged her on stage after her performance of Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” .
His arm is seen to be around Grande above her waist, with his fingers pressing against one side of her chest.
More than 90,000 tweets with the hashtag #RespectAriana circulated the web with viewers expressing their outrage.
The bishop has since apologised for how he touched the 25-year-old singer, in an interview with the Associated Press, saying it would “never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast”.
“I don’t know, I guess I put my arm around her,” he said. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologise.
“I hug all the female artists and the male artists,” he continued. “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.”
You can see how she is backing away and her expression looks like she is scared.
This is just gross. #RespectAriana pic.twitter.com/qL61ckVADu— sᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ｡.✧･ﾟ:* (@summaNOTwinter) September 1, 2018
He added: “The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”
He has also admitted his joke about mistaking her name on the…
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