Madonna says her remarks on Aretha Franklin weren’t intended as a tribute

NEW YORK — Madonna says she wasn’t asked and didn’t intend to do a tribute to Aretha Franklin at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The pop star was scorched online for telling a lengthy story about Franklin on Monday’s show that had more to do with herself than the Queen of Soul, who died last week.

But in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Madonna said she was asked to present the video of the year award and share any anecdotes she had in her career that were connected to Franklin. Madonna’s story was about singing a song popularized by Franklin during an audition, but the anecdote included much more about her own career.

She wrote that she could never do Franklin justice with a tribute amid the noise and tinsel of an awards show.

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