Aretha Franklin is threatening to take legal action against the author of a new unauthorised biography over allegations of defamation.
The music legend previously worked with David Ritz on her 1999 memoir From These Roots, but now she has lashed out at the writer for penning what she claims are falsities about her teenage years on the 1950s gospel scene - dubbed the Sex Circus - in his new tome, Respect.
Franklin tells the Detroit News, "There's a very trashy, trashy book on the street... It's lies, lies, lies and then more lies.
"I'm talking to a criminal attorney. If this isn't defamation, I don't know what would be."
The book, published by Little, Brown and Company, also details Franklin's struggle as a teenage mother and how she bounced back after her abusive marriage to first husband Ted White. Ritz is standing by the stories told to him by Aretha's friends, family members and associates.
Defending his work, he tells the New York Post, "I spent 25 years researching Respect. I see my book as an homage to Aretha's artistic genius and an empathetic portrait of a woman who has survived and thrived in the complex culture of showbusiness."
WENN.com
source: newshub archive
