even in death the media circus continues
to do its thing
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
celebrity funeral scandals and
controversies before we begin we publish
new content every day so be sure to
subscribe to our Channel and ring the
bell to get notified about our latest
videos for this list we’re looking at
celebrity funerals that for one reason
or another ended up attracting negative
press number 10 Steve Jobs in the age of
social media and viral videos there are
lots of ways for organizations to raise
their public profile but picketing the
funerals of American soldiers and
celebrities is probably not the smartest
way to do it following the passing of
visionary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in
October 2011 the Westboro Baptist Church
tweeted its plan to picket the
entrepreneur’s funeral he quote gave God
no glory the church claimed and was now
in hell endlessly retweeted and
ridiculed the church’s message got lost
in translation once people noticed that
an iPhone was used to send out the tweet
number nine
the notorious b.i.g on March 9th 1997
the music industry was shaken by the
senseless murder of iconic rapper biggie
smalls his funeral service and
procession attracted a huge star-studded
crowd but what began as a celebration of
the young artists accomplishments took a
nasty turn once the motorcade left the
notorious b.i.g ‘s Brooklyn neighborhood
an impromptu dance by teenagers on car
rooftops set off police and riot gear
who broke out the pepper spray and
arrested ten people including a New York
Times reporter sent to cover the event
number eight Sherman Hemsley as a
one-time stage actor Sherman Hemsley was
used to waiting behind the scenes but he
probably didn’t expect to do it all
again after he died the actor and
comedian who made his beloved character
George Jefferson from all in the family
and the Jeffersons an iconic role passed
away in July 2012 right before the
funeral however a man claiming to be his
half-brother came forward to contest the
will postponing Hensley’s burial
eventually a judge ruled against the
so-called long-lost sibling but in the
meantime hems Lee’s body was left
chillin on ice for three and a half
number seven Elizabeth Taylor screen
legend Elizabeth Taylor was so
fashionable she even arrived 15 minutes
late to her own funeral in accordance
with instructions she’d left behind
unfortunately the service for the
Hollywood superstar also made headlines
for another reason
good old funeral super-villains the
Westboro Baptist Church a hate group
known for targeting the LGBT community
the church took aim at Taylor for her
prominent role as an AIDS awareness
activist and promised to picket the
funeral happily the church was a no-show
now a frequent occurrence and Elizabeth
Taylor was laid to rest peacefully in a
private ceremony of family and friends
the day after her death in March 2011
number six luciano pavarotti arguably
the best known opera singer of all time
and acclaimed member of the three tenors
Pavarotti was mourned far and wide when
he passed away from pancreatic cancer in
September 2007 hundreds of stars
dignitaries and other guests attended
his funeral in the beloved performers
hometown Madonna while thousands flocked
to the piazza outside the Cathedral
even the Pope chimed in praising
Pavarotti for honoring quote the divine
gift of music but despite all the
goodwill there were still some grumbles
a local parish priest claimed the
funeral profaned the temple as Pavarotti
was a divorcee who had fathered a child
out of wedlock
you really can’t escape the critics
number five Elvis Presley it was a
funeral fit for a king but there was
always gonna be some scandal surrounding
the superstar ceremony Elvis is untimely
death at just 42 sent shockwaves around
the world and thousands of fans flocked
to Graceland to honor the charismatic
cultural icon yet even though his
funeral was meant to be a private event
the National Enquirer bribed Elvis’s
cousin to sneak a picture of the open
casket unsurprisingly the issue of the
magazine with Presley’s face on the
cover sold almost 7 million copies
number 4 Diana Princess of Wales a year
before her tragic death in a car crash
in 1997 Princess Diana had divorced
Prince Charles after both had
extramarital affairs having married into
the royal family
Diana therefore lost her status of Her
Royal Highness and
according to a Britain channel for news
report disputed by the royal family the
Queen insisted Diana be given a private
rather than public funeral amidst an
outpouring of public grief and in
accordance with these supposed wishes of
Prince Charles the funeral became a
public event with two and a half billion
people watching the service from around
the world number three
Whitney Houston and
[Music]
an unparalleled vocalist and one of the
best-selling musicians of all time
Whitney Houston nevertheless struggled
with a drug addiction that proved her
downfall her February 2012 memorial
service attended by the likes of Stevie
Wonder and Alicia Keys became easy
pickings for the tabloids
when ex-husband Bobby Brown stormed out
of the church Midway according to the
Daily Mail the relationship between
brown and Houston’s family was still
rocky and after he was refused the front
row and asked to switch seats multiple
times the frustrated Brown kissed his
ex-wife’s casket and made an early exit
number two Aretha Franklin an
inspirational performer and vocal
supporter of the civil rights movement
Aretha Franklin deserved more than a
little respect at her memorial service
but although the August 2018 funeral
included moving tributes from well-known
musicians and politicians
it was also riddled with controversy
[Music]
ariana grande’s stunning rendition of
you make me feel like a natural woman
was immediately followed by a bishop
copping a feel and firing out awkward
jokes knew something at Taco Bell girl
let me give you all your respect making
matters worse reverend jasper williams
junior took the opportunity to deliver a
never ending eulogy that criticized
black americans and was labeled sexist
and misogynistic
however most egregious according to
Franklin’s grieving family anyway was
that he barely mentioned the superstar
he was there to honor number 1 Michael
Jackson the King of Pop changed the
music industry forever but the former
Jackson 5 member was hardly unaccustomed
to controversy and his public memorial
service was no exception with thousands
of fans attending the event in July 2009
Michael Jackson ceremony served as a
heartfelt celebration of the superstars
legacy but there was one big problem the
bill despite being a private event the
city of Los Angeles needed to plan its
most significant security efforts since
they’d hosted the Olympics in 1984 and
ended up forking over 1.4 million
dollars for police cleanup and traffic
control this was particularly troubling
for many due to the city’s budget crisis
at the time as well as the Great
Recession do you agree with our picks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and
ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos
to do its thing
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
celebrity funeral scandals and
controversies before we begin we publish
new content every day so be sure to
subscribe to our Channel and ring the
bell to get notified about our latest
videos for this list we’re looking at
celebrity funerals that for one reason
or another ended up attracting negative
press number 10 Steve Jobs in the age of
social media and viral videos there are
lots of ways for organizations to raise
their public profile but picketing the
funerals of American soldiers and
celebrities is probably not the smartest
way to do it following the passing of
visionary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in
October 2011 the Westboro Baptist Church
tweeted its plan to picket the
entrepreneur’s funeral he quote gave God
no glory the church claimed and was now
in hell endlessly retweeted and
ridiculed the church’s message got lost
in translation once people noticed that
an iPhone was used to send out the tweet
number nine
the notorious b.i.g on March 9th 1997
the music industry was shaken by the
senseless murder of iconic rapper biggie
smalls his funeral service and
procession attracted a huge star-studded
crowd but what began as a celebration of
the young artists accomplishments took a
nasty turn once the motorcade left the
notorious b.i.g ‘s Brooklyn neighborhood
an impromptu dance by teenagers on car
rooftops set off police and riot gear
who broke out the pepper spray and
arrested ten people including a New York
Times reporter sent to cover the event
number eight Sherman Hemsley as a
one-time stage actor Sherman Hemsley was
used to waiting behind the scenes but he
probably didn’t expect to do it all
again after he died the actor and
comedian who made his beloved character
George Jefferson from all in the family
and the Jeffersons an iconic role passed
away in July 2012 right before the
funeral however a man claiming to be his
half-brother came forward to contest the
will postponing Hensley’s burial
eventually a judge ruled against the
so-called long-lost sibling but in the
meantime hems Lee’s body was left
chillin on ice for three and a half
number seven Elizabeth Taylor screen
legend Elizabeth Taylor was so
fashionable she even arrived 15 minutes
late to her own funeral in accordance
with instructions she’d left behind
unfortunately the service for the
Hollywood superstar also made headlines
for another reason
good old funeral super-villains the
Westboro Baptist Church a hate group
known for targeting the LGBT community
the church took aim at Taylor for her
prominent role as an AIDS awareness
activist and promised to picket the
funeral happily the church was a no-show
now a frequent occurrence and Elizabeth
Taylor was laid to rest peacefully in a
private ceremony of family and friends
the day after her death in March 2011
number six luciano pavarotti arguably
the best known opera singer of all time
and acclaimed member of the three tenors
Pavarotti was mourned far and wide when
he passed away from pancreatic cancer in
September 2007 hundreds of stars
dignitaries and other guests attended
his funeral in the beloved performers
hometown Madonna while thousands flocked
to the piazza outside the Cathedral
even the Pope chimed in praising
Pavarotti for honoring quote the divine
gift of music but despite all the
goodwill there were still some grumbles
a local parish priest claimed the
funeral profaned the temple as Pavarotti
was a divorcee who had fathered a child
out of wedlock
you really can’t escape the critics
number five Elvis Presley it was a
funeral fit for a king but there was
always gonna be some scandal surrounding
the superstar ceremony Elvis is untimely
death at just 42 sent shockwaves around
the world and thousands of fans flocked
to Graceland to honor the charismatic
cultural icon yet even though his
funeral was meant to be a private event
the National Enquirer bribed Elvis’s
cousin to sneak a picture of the open
casket unsurprisingly the issue of the
magazine with Presley’s face on the
cover sold almost 7 million copies
number 4 Diana Princess of Wales a year
before her tragic death in a car crash
in 1997 Princess Diana had divorced
Prince Charles after both had
extramarital affairs having married into
the royal family
Diana therefore lost her status of Her
Royal Highness and
according to a Britain channel for news
report disputed by the royal family the
Queen insisted Diana be given a private
rather than public funeral amidst an
outpouring of public grief and in
accordance with these supposed wishes of
Prince Charles the funeral became a
public event with two and a half billion
people watching the service from around
the world number three
Whitney Houston and
[Music]
an unparalleled vocalist and one of the
best-selling musicians of all time
Whitney Houston nevertheless struggled
with a drug addiction that proved her
downfall her February 2012 memorial
service attended by the likes of Stevie
Wonder and Alicia Keys became easy
pickings for the tabloids
when ex-husband Bobby Brown stormed out
of the church Midway according to the
Daily Mail the relationship between
brown and Houston’s family was still
rocky and after he was refused the front
row and asked to switch seats multiple
times the frustrated Brown kissed his
ex-wife’s casket and made an early exit
number two Aretha Franklin an
inspirational performer and vocal
supporter of the civil rights movement
Aretha Franklin deserved more than a
little respect at her memorial service
but although the August 2018 funeral
included moving tributes from well-known
musicians and politicians
it was also riddled with controversy
[Music]
ariana grande’s stunning rendition of
you make me feel like a natural woman
was immediately followed by a bishop
copping a feel and firing out awkward
jokes knew something at Taco Bell girl
let me give you all your respect making
matters worse reverend jasper williams
junior took the opportunity to deliver a
never ending eulogy that criticized
black americans and was labeled sexist
and misogynistic
however most egregious according to
Franklin’s grieving family anyway was
that he barely mentioned the superstar
he was there to honor number 1 Michael
Jackson the King of Pop changed the
music industry forever but the former
Jackson 5 member was hardly unaccustomed
to controversy and his public memorial
service was no exception with thousands
of fans attending the event in July 2009
Michael Jackson ceremony served as a
heartfelt celebration of the superstars
legacy but there was one big problem the
bill despite being a private event the
city of Los Angeles needed to plan its
most significant security efforts since
they’d hosted the Olympics in 1984 and
ended up forking over 1.4 million
dollars for police cleanup and traffic
control this was particularly troubling
for many due to the city’s budget crisis
at the time as well as the Great
Recession do you agree with our picks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and
ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos
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