Jennifer Hudson threw a little shade Cynthia Erivo’s way after hearing the actress would be playing Aretha Franklin for a television project.
Hudson was personally tapped by Franklin to star as her in an upcoming movie.
National Geographic tapped Cynthia Erivo to star as the soul legend in their upcoming offering. Hudson isn’t impressed.
“I know that Aretha was adamant that [her life] be a film. If it’s not a film, it’s nothing,” Hudson told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m just honored that she picked me to play her. I mean, who can say that? And again, I would have never done it without her wishes.”
Erivo has not yet responded to Hudson’s shade.
In 2011, Franklin sent a telegram to Wendy Williams that the talk show host read on the air, saying, “I would’ve liked Halle Berry to portray the older Aretha in the upcoming biopic of my life . . . “
Franklin later stated that she would have also considered Fantasia to play her.