Gladys Knight Clarifies Cancer Comment at Aretha Franklin Funeral

WDIV, a local television station in Detroit, Michigan, reported that Knight said she had “the same illness” as Franklin while attending the Queen of Soul’s service at Greater Grace Temple on Thursday, The Detroit News reports. The singer did not disclose when she was diagnosed with the illness.

However, in a statement to Rolling Stone, Knight’s rep Jay Schwartz denied that the singer had the disease. “Gladys does not have pancreatic cancer,” Schwartz confirmed. “She is fine!”

In a statement to Rolling Stone via Schwartz, Knight cleared up the miscommunication. “I’d like to clarify that Aretha and I discussed both of us having cancer, mine was stage 1 breast cancer and hers was pancreatic,” she said. “Due to early detection, I am cancer-free and grateful for that. It is unfortunate that on a day we should be celebrating Aretha’s life and massive contribution to our world, a reporter who did not relay accurate information has missed the message. I send my love to the entire Franklin family and my gratitude to them for sharing such an extraordinary person with us.”

read: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/gladys-knights-rep-denies-report-of-singers-pancreatic-cancer-admission-718184/