Did Dinah Washington Really Lose It During an Aretha

(Spoiler alert: Do not learn on if in case you have not seen “Respect.”)

Did Dinah Washington actually lose it when she attended considered one of Aretha Franklin’s exhibits and heard Franklin sing considered one of Washington’s songs — as depicted within the new film “Respect”? Not fairly — but it surely did occur at another person’s present.

In David Ritz’s biography of Franklin, “Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin,” he writes that Etta James advised him she was taking part in a small membership in Providence, Rhode Island, when she heard Washington can be coming to her midnight present: “With that in mind, I decided to open with her big hit, ‘Unforgettable.’ I didn’t even get to the chorus when I heard this earth-shattering crash. Dinah had got up off her chair, swept all the glasses and plates off her table, and was pointing at me, screaming, ‘Bitch, don’t you ever sing the Queen’s songs when the Queen is right in front of you!’”

Later, James stated, Washington got here to her dressing room to apologize. “Sorry, I lost it for a minute, but look, girl, you learned a valuable lesson. If a star’s around, you don’t ever sing the star’s songs. Ever,’” she recalled.

According to the biography, Franklin had an encounter with Washington has effectively — after her present at a Detroit membership, Franklin obtained a go to from Washington in her dressing room, the place Washington allegedly started to criticize Aretha for the mess within the room.

“Aretha deeply resented the remarks and thought Dinah was acting like a diva,” Ritz wrote.

In the film “Respect,” it’s Jennifer Hudson’s Franklin who begins singing considered one of Washington’s songs in a New York nightclub, prompting Washington (performed by Mary J. Blige) to knock over a desk. Instead of apologizing to her after, although, Washington rips into Franklin for attempting to be a Washington-style jazz singer.

So, Washington did get heated when she heard considered one of her songs sung by another person in a dwell present, however her anger was not aimed towards Franklin, no less than in that occasion.

In addition to Hudson and Blige, new Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” options performances by Forest Whitaker, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess and Marlon Wayans. Liesl Tommy directs based mostly on a screenplay by Tracey Scott Wilson and a narrative by Callie Khouri.

The movie hit theaters on Friday.