Bishop Charles H Ellis III apologises to @ArianaGrande after his conduct at the Aretha Franklin funeral sparks #respectariana criticism pic.twitter.com/mqoZTgdQba

— ITV News (@itvnews) September 1, 2018

A bishop who presided over Aretha Franklin’s funeral and was accused of groping singer Ariana Grande has now apologized.

“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast. … I don’t know. I guess I put my arm around her,” Ellis said. “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize.”

“I hug all the female artists and the male artists,” Ellis said. “Everybody that was up, I shook their hands and hugged them. That’s what we are all about in the church. We are all about love. The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin.”

He also made it a point to apologize to the Hispanic community for comparing Grande’s name to an item on the Taco Bell menu.

“I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” Ellis said. “When you’re doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there.”