‘Luke Cage’ Star Apologizes For Mocking Tweet On Ariana Grande Groping
by
Dino-Ray Ramos
September 2, 2018 9:33am
Paul Sancya/Shutterstock
UPDATE: Mike Colter, the star of the Netflix/Marvel superhero series
Luke Cage, has apologized for a tweet that made light of
Ariana Grande’s groping by a clergyman at the
Aretha Franklin funeral.
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The series star apologized for gleefully mocking the Friday incident in which Grande appeared extremely uncomfortable with Bishop Charles Ellis’s touches following her performance at the funeral.
Colter’s offending tweet said, ‘Now THIS is how you shoot your shot! Zero F***!’
Netflix
That tweet, which was in response to a Trevor Noah tweet that showed Grande apparently being groped, included a series of emojis meant to portray hysterical laughter.
Colter received severe backlash on social media, with some calling for his firing from the
Luke Cage show. He deleted the tweet and posted an apology hours later.
‘I apologize about my tweet earlier,’ Colter said in his apology. “In no way do I condone any such behavior. It was intended to point out the absurdity of the act itself. Complete and biting sarcasm. I realized quickly that it was not taken as such.” He added that his apology was delayed because “I was at an event all day.”
EARLIER: During Aretha Franklin’s funeral service Friday,
Bishop Charles H. Ellis III was accused of inappropriately touching pop singer Ariana Grande. He has since apologized and said it was unintentional.
“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast,” Ellis told the Associated Press. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize.”
After Grande finished her rendition of Franklin’s hit, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Ellis was talking to Grande and put his arm around her. He thanked her for performing and joked that he wasn’t familiar with Grande or her music.
When photos and video circulated of the two of them it looked as though Ellis was grabbing her breast and Twitter started to react, starting the trending hashtag: #RespectAriana.
Grande was one of many performers to pay tribute to the Queen of Soul at the service. In addition to the singer, musicians such as Faith Hill, Fantasia Barrino, Jennifer Hudson, the Clark Sisters, Chaka Khan, and Stevie Wonder took the stage to honor the music legend. Franklin died on Aug. 16 from pancreatic cancer.
