Beyonce Knowles’ father hits out at Aretha Franklin

Beyonce's father/manager, Mathew Knowles has responded to Aretha Franklin's comments about Beyonce introducing Tina Turner as the "Queen" at Sunday's Grammy Awards - branding her "childish" and "unprofessional".

Aretha - famous for the hit 'Respect', and often referred to as the Queen of Soul - took offense at the remark, telling People magazine in a statement yesterday: "I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Beyonce, however I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy."

"In addition to that, I thank the Grammys and the voting academy for my 20th Grammy and love to Beyonce anyway."

To which Matthew responded in a statement Thursday: "Something this ridiculous – it's childish, it's unprofessional.

"And it's a sad day when egos get bruised because somebody used the word king, queen, prince or princess."

By Owen Williams, Feb 15 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy