(I know that video should be shot horizontally, but if you’re trying to be covert about it, vertical is the way to go.)

I second this, and add that if you’re going to cut someone out or give someone more than others, make your reasoning clear. There are relatives who no longer speak to my family because an aunt willed her estate to my siblings and me. This aunt had been like a third parent to us; she helped raise us. She didn’t have…

Seriously. If you have any assets at all, HAVE A WILL. This shouldn’t be difficult.

“ the Queen of Soul didn’t leave a will.”

Also, I’m really curious what she saw in this dude that made her think, “There’s someone I want to go to bat for!” Just looking at him makes me want to shower. 

This is not meant to be shade on Aretha, since it seems like things will default to how I hope she would have wanted it, so she didn’t see a need for formalize it, but please please please people: have a will and make sure it is in safe hands!

A “Westing Game” reference? I adore you.

Not often you get to say good job MTV.

I believe you, I’m just going from my memory from when she was speaking about newer artists. The “she reminds me of me” thing goes way way back, and onward a number of times over the decades. And I go way back too as I’m only a few years her junior. While it’s all nice and everything to eulogize the dead, musical…

Who though? MAYBE Ariana Grande seems like she’s heard of Franklin. MAYBE they could book Christina Aguilera, but could either one of them speak off the cuff for 30 seconds? I don’t thing the VMAs have the clout to pull Beyoncé or Janet last minute. Can you imagine Cardi B talking about Franklin for 5 minutes. …

I have a vague memory of a long Rolling Stone article 20 odd years ago with a bunch of women, her, Chrissy Hynde, Liz Phair and several others. M made several gripey comments along the lines of not feeling like the newer artists were giving her enough credit for their careers, that somehow they owe her for “breaking…

It’s Madonna. She makes everything about Madonna and her tribute was just more Madonna being Madonna. Everyone knows this, and if this isn’t what the VMA organizers wanted, they should have invited someone else.

In all the years I have known about the existence of this Madonna person, I have never heard her compliment another musical artist without the caveat “she/he reminds me of me.” The highest compliment she can bestow. Any and all tributes to others are always in essence about her. I don’t hate her, I can’t work up…

So funny that “speaking perfect English” is a compliment from a guy that does anything but.

Puritans: 400 years, and still colonizing peoples’ minds.

David Bowie called out MTV 35 years ago, hardly a damn thing has changed.

She looks like the leader of the craziest UFO cult ever. I'm surprised she didn't try a little necromancy and summon Aretha's spirit to tell us how happy she was to have inspired Madonna.

you young’uns probably don’t remember when Madonna first showed up on the music scene. She was a pretentious insufferable bore then and nothing has changed.

Amber Rose’s outfit is the most tryhard thing I’ve seen in a minute.

Virtue signaling as a term has been abused to the point of meaninglessness and is now used only by shitheads, but the actual act is absolutely a real thing that happens, continuously and obnoxiously. We are jerking ourselves off into oblivion.