Why Aretha Franklin’s family has denounced biopic series Genius

Eight-episode series chronicles the life of the Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin in 1968 (Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

Members of Aretha Franklin’s immediate family have denounced Genius: Aretha, a new biographical series about the artist.

The programme has just aired on National Geographic in the US. It’s the third season of Genius. The first two were dedicated respectively to Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso. A fourth one will centre around Martin Luther King Jr and will air on Disney+.

Franklin’s granddaughter Grace Franklin recently shared a video about Genius on TikTok, alleging that the family had tried to no avail to become involved in the making of the series because “it’s hard to get any accurate depiction of anyone’s life without speaking to the ones closest to them”.

“As the immediate family – emphasis on immediate – we do not support this film and we ask that you also do not support this film,” she said in the clip, adding in the accompanying caption that the family has “no grievances” against the actors involved in any Franklin biopic.

Kecalf Franklin, Grace Franklin’s father and Aretha Franklin’s son, later spoke to Rolling Stone, telling the publication that communication between the Genius team and his family stopped after his cousin Sabrina Garrett-Owens, who used to represent the Franklin estate, resigned in early 2020. At the time, according to Rolling Stone, no final agreement had been reached regarding Genius and the family’s possible involvement.

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“We had our lawyers reach out to them and see if we could have some type of input and see the film and say what we like and what we didn’t like about it,” Kecalf Franklin told the magazine. “And the report that we got back was saying that it was too late, production had already wrapped up and that they didn’t want to work with us. It was basically too late.”

He said the team “did send a non-disclosure agreement but the terms in that contract, they weren’t giving us creative control or anything like that as well.”

NatGeo told Rolling Stone in a statement: “We received the message from the family, we hear them and acknowledge their concern for Ms Franklin’s legacy. We think we have a shared goal here – to honour 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 network added that “the studio worked diligently to attain the endorsement of Aretha’s estate, which we are grateful to have” and that it “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.” In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, NatGeo reiterated that it obtained approval to go ahead with the series from the Franklin estate, which according to the publication currently has no affiliation with the artist’s immediate family.

The Independent has contacted NatGeo for further comment.