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You Don't Want to Sit Behind Aretha Franklin in a Theater

The singer was in full diva mode during a Broadway show.

Aretha Franklin didn't show a lot of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. to her fellow theater patrons during a showing of The Color Purple on Broadway. According to Page Six, the soul diva walked in late, occupied six seats and then pulled out her phone to snap pictures during the performance.
“She arrived a few minutes late with four bodyguards. One to sit in front, one behind, and one on either side. The prime orchestra seat in front of her was empty,” entertainment writer Brandon Voss posted to Facebook friends. “During the opening number she began taking photos on her phone, lifting it high and proud, much to the murmuring disgust of those around us,” Voss adds. 
He says that an "older white lady" sitting near Franklin called her out for her rude behavior, but then changed her tune once she realized who she was. Once the woman “realized it wasn’t a human being but was in fact THE Aretha Franklin, she APOLOGIZED,” Voss posted. “Because it’s Aretha f***ing Franklin, and she can take pictures whenever and wherever she wants.”
The second half of the show only got worse, when fans started approaching Franklin for an autograph. She also apparently bumped people from their seats and, once the show was over, had her bodyguards make everyone in her section exit to one side so she could "sit and chill."
A rep for the show said, “Aretha attended the show with a party of six... I don’t have any knowledge of her taking photos during the show.”
Of course, some would say Miss Franklin has earned herself some diva behavior. Watch highlights from her incredible life and career, below:

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(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Jazz at Lincoln Center)

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