Aretha Franklin’s Family Doesn’t Support “Genius” Biopic

Aretha Franklin‘s family is making it perfectly clear that they do not support Genius, the National Geographic series of the Queen of Soul.

There are two Aretha Franklin biopics being released this year and Genius premiered over the weekend and the family is not happy about it.

Last week, the late singer’s granddaughter, Grace Franklin, posted a TikTok of her family protesting the release of Genius: Aretha, a four-part series starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo as Aretha. 

In the clip, she’s chanting along with her parents, siblings, and friends, “This movie has to go! This movie has to go!”

“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,” she says later in the clip.

“During the process of writing, directing, and filming this movie, we’ve reached out to Genius as a family on multiple occasions where we have been disrespected and told we will not be worked with. As the immediate family — emphasis on immediate — we do not support this film and we ask that you also do not support this film, as we feel extremely disrespected, and we feel there will be many inaccuracies about my grandmother’s life.”

Grace’s father and Aretha’s son Kecalf Franklin supported his daughter’s words.

“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,” he tells Rolling Stone, adding that he has not yet seen any clips from Genius and will not be watching it Sunday.

Production on Genius began about two years ago, just months after Aretha Franklin’s 2018 death of pancreatic cancer. 

In a statement, NatGeo acknowledged a disconnect with the Franklin family but stood by how they conducted research for the Genius series, which has focused past seasons on Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.

“We received the message from the family, we hear them and acknowledge their concern for Ms. Franklin’s legacy,” a rep for the network said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “We think we have a shared goal here – to honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Aretha Franklin. We can tell you that everyone who worked on Genius: Aretha approached telling her story with the intention to respect Ms. Franklin in every aspect of the series and in every decision we made.

“The studio worked diligently to attain the endorsement of Aretha’s estate, which we are grateful to have,” the statement continues. “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.”

Kecalf, who is one of Aretha’s four sons, guesses that the only family members the producers might have spoken to would be a few of his cousins. 

After reading NatGeo’s statement Friday afternoon, Kecalf wrote a statement in response. “The Genius series deal was initiated by my cousin Sabrina Garrett-Owens and her counsel, David Bennett,” he said. “When my brothers and I became aware of this project, the Genius series had already started production. It is our opinion that the producers of this series neglected to take the necessary steps to properly prepare for this biopic production. Most creatives begin with a subject’s immediate family to produce the most authentic and honest version of that person’s life. In our opinion the Genius series failed to do so. Neither I nor my brothers have ever spoken with the producers of this series. We agree that our mother’s life’s work should be celebrated but with respect.”

Kecalf Franklin says he hopes to draw attention to the way films about his mother are made. “We’re just trying to make sure that the integrity of my mom is intact,” says Kecalf. He’s referring followers to visit website about the singer, JusticeForTheQueen.com. “We have to protect her and her legacy at all costs.