Aretha Franklin’s youngest son, Kecalf Franklin, has come out swinging against MGM’s forthcoming biopic starring Jennifer Hudson. Franklin’s son contends that he and his children have had no input on the film about his late mother.
According to USA Today, Franklin took to his Facebook page this weekend, asking, “How can you make a movie about a person and not talk to the persons’ sons or grandchildren about important information?” in all caps.
His post was the latest shot fired in a family battle that has mostly played out inside Oakland County Probate Court, where Kecalf Franklin has petitioned to be named the estate’s executor in place of Sabrina Owens, Aretha Franklin’s niece.
However, in response, David Bennett, Aretha Franklin’s longtime attorney and lead counsel for the estate, said, “This is all about his attempts to become the personal representative of the estate.”
Aretha’s niece has been the executor since Franklin passed in August of 2018. Still, the matters were complicated last spring by the discovery of wills with conflicting instructions purportedly written by the legendary singer.
At an August hearing, Judge Jennifer Callaghan authorized handwriting experts to assess and confirm the documents’ validity. She also ordered Owens and Franklins’ four sons to begin mediation in hopes that the family members would hammer out a fair distribution of assets.
The MGM-produced project ”Respect” began filming last fall and is scheduled for release this coming fall. As Kecalf Franklin acknowledged in his FB post, Hudson was handpicked for the lead role by the Queen of Soul, herself.
“Everything else is being done against our wishes,” Kecalf wrote, claiming “the Franklin family (does not) support the movie that is in production!” he shared.
Franklin also criticized the publication of “The Queen Next Door,” a collection of images by Aretha Franklin’s longtime personal photographer Linda Solomon. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Echoing his complaint about the MGM film, stating that the “core” family was not contacted for input, he wrote.
