Fox News Apologizes After Using Background Image of Patti LaBelle For Aretha Franklin Tribute

On Thursday, the world spent the day honoring and remembering the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, after her passing yesterday morning. These delicate situations have no room for errors, but Fox News made a pretty big one.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

During a segment honoring Franklin’s life and extraordinary career, the news network incorrectly used a background photograph of Patti LaBelle performing.

The main graphic is a photo of Aretha, accompanied by her dates of birth and death. However, the background graphic is of Patti Labelle, performing at “Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House,” a concert both ladies shared in 2014. 

Fox immediately issued a statement following the error, but according to #Buzzfeed, the explanation made matters even worse. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

“We sincerely apologize to Aretha Franklin’s family and friends. Our intention was to honor the icon using a secondary image of her performing with Patti LaBelle in the full-screen graphic, but the image of Ms. Franklin was obscured in that process, which we deeply regret.” 

That’s the excuse Fox gave, but video from the actual performance show that the two Icons never performed together. The photo they used was actually from the Associated Press. The caption from the original photo lists Aretha, as well as other entertainers, who were scheduled to perform during the concert, with no mentioning of a Patti and Aretha duet.

The apology is the last statement made by Fox News in relation to this incident, but they have refused further comment regarding the fabrication of their explanation.