Why Is Aretha Franklin’s Estate So Upset About the NatGeo Series?

The Aretha Franklin project running on NatGeo this week is causing some consternation in the Franklin family, and I can't quite understand why.

Here's a report from WWJ in Detroit:

"National Geographic network is taking their turn at telling Aretha Franklin’s in Genius: Aretha, and her family is having none of it, accusing the producers of the biopic for “disrespecting” them in their attempts to get involved."

The title of the docu-series is "Genius: Aretha."  I don't get what would be disrespectful about calling a woman known by most as the Queen of Soul, a genius?

The way I read this story is, the family wanted more input and essentially, were told no.

Here's a telling quote for me:

"Aretha’s granddaughter, Grace Franklin, took to TikTok to share a video massage, in which she said “as the immediate family, we feel that it’s important to be involved with any biopic of my grandma’s life, as it’s hard to get any accurate depiction of anyone’s life without speaking to the ones closest to them.” - WWJ Radio, Detroit.

This is not some smear job. Is it going to only tell the story the family wants told? No. And, that is defined as disrespectful? Okay. I think I want some perspective. If you're the Franklin family and you want your story told, then put up your money and produce your own version. But, again, the word "genius" in the title. I don't get at all how that is disrespectful. Next installments run tonight on Nat Geo.

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