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(photo:sfgate.com)

 

Aretha Franklin has fired off an email to Kathie Lee Gifford after she questioned the star’s suitability as a judge on “American Idol.”

The Queen of Soul has been vocal about her desire to replace one of the departing judges, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, on the popular TV talent competition as producers scramble to find a new line-up, but not everyone agrees she’s a good fit.

On the “Today” show, Gifford said, “If they (producers) are looking for a younger demographic, there are a lot of kids out there (who) actually don’t know who Aretha Franklin is. It’s sad, but they don’t.”

Franklin took offence to the comments and she responded by sending a curt message to Gifford and Hoda Kotb. The email, obtained by CNN, reads: “While I enjoy Kathie Lee and Hoda daily, her assessment is totally wrong! My audience and fans span the age of 8 to 90! And are multi-ethnic, and I am very well known to young adults, tweens and teens. Their parents play my music… She (Gifford) should research me before she speaks about me.”

Aretha scolds Kathie Lee continued:

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=743818

MSN.COM