Aretha tells Fanny: “Girl, sit’cho ass down!” Former adultress Fantasia Barrino became a Trending Topic on the blogosphere last week after she confessed that she boycotted the 2011 Grammy Awards — and missed an opportunity to accept her first gong after 11 failed nominations — all because show organizers left her off the bill for the opening performance, a tribute to Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, featuring Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams, Florence Welch, Martina McBride, and Christina Aguilera.

“I’m going to be very honest with you. You know I wasn’t at the Grammys last night. I’m kind of going through my own thing… Last night they were honoring someone who is my idol, Aretha Franklin, and there is no way I could have sat there and not got the happy feet and wanting to jump on the mic because she is my favorite so I felt like, you know, at the end of the day I should have been on that stage. I have this feeling, like every year I go, I feel like they always look over some of the good singers that are still around. I’m not trying to be funny, but that’s just the way I felt,” Barrino said.

After learning of Fantasia’s perceived slight, Aretha, who collaborated with the former American Idol on the 2007 tune “Let Me Put You Up on Game,” issued a statement, outlying her feelings on the subject. Famed for an ego that is at times as large as her powerhouse voice, Aretha has a word of advice for Fanny: “There’s no whining in singing!”

The “Chain of Fools” singer writes: “I was sorry to hear that Fantasia was upset because she did not get the opportunity to participate in my Grammy Tribute this year. I recall that in the past, Fantasia participated in both my MusicCares Person of the Year Tribute and my United Negro College Fund Tribute. Fantasia is still young in the business and although we all love and appreciate her she must understand that in this business of show business she will not always get to participate in everything she would like participate in. I’m sure it was not an intentional omission. I will see Fantasia over the summer here in Detroit.”

The Queen has spoken. Guess that’s that!

Daytime diva Wendy Williams has landed the first sit-down interview with Aretha Franklin since the Queen of Soul scrapped all of her concert dates to undergo treatment for an alleged pancreatic cancer diagnosis last year.

On The Wendy Williams Show Monday, the brassy chatterbox announced that she’d been invited to Franklin’s home in Detroit, where she’s expected to enjoy a round of exercise and “high tea” with the music legend between provocative chatting.

An airdate has not yet been announced.

Attention People: Fanny, is not happy!

Did you know that after 11 nods, former American Idol Fantasia Barrino finally won her first Grammy Award over the weekend? Did you also know that the singer — who spent much of last year scandal-plagued and cash-strapped — wasn’t on tap to accept the prize for Best Female Vocal peformance for “Bittersweet” because she wasn’t invited to participate in the Aretha Franklin tribute. Vocalists Florence Welch, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson, and Christina Aguilera were tapped to pay tribute to the ailing Queen of Soul as an opening performance at Sunday’s ceremony. Leaving Fanny fuming.

After all, when she was competing for the title of American Idol in 2004, Barrino’s spirited performance of Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” secured her a place in the finals.

“I’m going to be very honest with you. You know I wasn’t at the Grammys last night,” she told BET’s 106 & Park hosts Terrence J and Rocsi on Monday evening.

“I’m kind of going through my own thing… Last night they were honoring someone who is my idol, Aretha Franklin, and there is no way I could have sat there and not got the happy feet and wanting to jump on the mic because she is my favorite so I felt like, you know, at the end of the day I should have been on that stage. I have this feeling, like every year I go, I feel like they always look over some of the good singers that are still around. I’m not trying to be funny, but that’s just the way I felt.”

Think she’s overreacting just a tad?

A Sad Day for Soul: As rumors persist that The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is battling terminal pancreatic cancer, insiders close to the music legend are livid with the “Respect” singer’s longtime friend, R&B star-turned-radio personality Keith Washington, who is accused of giving press interviews on Franklin’s condition and broadcasting one of their private conversations to his listeners without Aretha’s consent.

Washington, who had a few hits on the charts back in the early ’90s (“Kissing You” & “Candlelight & You”), kinda betrayed her. Washington, who now hosts a local Detroit radio show called “Kisses After Dark” on WDMK/105.9 Kiss FM, took it upon himself to broadcast a private conversation with her on the radio and online.

After the two hung up the phone, Keith is heard telling someone in the studio: “Just talking to her right now and hearing her say they are waiting for certain things is kind of touchy and becomes sensitive to me because if there was nothing wrong, they wouldn’t be waiting on results.”

The station even put up a YouTube clip of the conversation, dated Dec.8, that shows Washington having a brief convo with a weak sounding Aretha. A source close to Aretha told BlackVoices.com that Keith and Aretha are friends but adds that “it was wrong Aretha didn’t know she was getting taped.”

On Friday, Washington and Interactive One, the online component of Radio One, the company that owns the Detroit radio station that he works for, offered a rebuttal to accusations that he violated Franklin’s privacy by putting the video of his conversation with her online. He wrote in part: “On Nov. 8, while on a break from the on-air broadcast, I called Aretha Franklin because it had just come to my attention she had to cancel her tour plans for the next six months due to health issues. Since Aretha’s been sick, I’ve been heartsick.”

The statement continued: “Our conversation was captured on the live video stream as are others but I was not aware her end of the conversation was audible to the microphone. At no time was our conversation aired or broadcast on the radio – like many blogs and even reputable news organizations have claimed.”

“It is regrettable that anybody would characterize this as unethical when she is a dear friend. All I can say is that I’ve been talking about Aretha to my fans for years and me sharing my feelings about her with my audience was nothing unusual for me. I love her and her family dearly,” Washington says.

“I am troubled by how the video has been received – not for myself, but for any pain it caused my friend.”

Meanwhile, Aretha, 68, went home from a Detroit hospital Friday, after The National Enquirer sources say she had to have “over half of her stomach removed” as she battles the same disease that claimed the life of actor Patrick Swayze in Sept. 2009. Pancreatic cancer has only a five to ten percent survival rate — even lower for an obese woman of Aretha’s age.

An Enquirer informant close to The Franklins yaps: “Aretha’s been trying to keep this from her fans because she didn’t want to cause a panic — she even hid her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer from some family members.”

“Despite declaring her surgery a success, she’s in a very bad way. She likely has only months to live,” the source adds. “She was diagnosed six months ago after she started to feel very sick and no matter what she did, the stomach pains would not go away.”

A new tabloid report claims that the mystery illness that has sidelined music legend Aretha Franklin from the stage until May is much more serious than gout or a bad case of heartburn.

In fact, the Queen of Soul could be in for the fight of her life.

The Snitch Circuit is abuzz this Wednesday with whispers that Franklin has been diagnosed with advanced (Read: Inoperable and Incurable) pancreatic cancer.

The National Enquirer claims doctors made the glum diagnosis after Aretha broke her ribs in a shower fall over the summer. Tabloid tattles claim the “Respect” singer has been given less than a year to live, with her advanced age (She’s 66..) and massive weight lowering her odds of recovery. Though The Enquirer is known for its often-outlandish take on unbiased journalism, it should be noted that the publication was the first in the world to report Patrick Swayze and Michael Landon’s battles with pancreatic cancer — a disease that has a less than 10 percent survival rate and ultimately killed both actors. The also blew the lid off Christina Applegate’s breast cancer scare.

Franklin underwent a top secret medical procedure last Thursday, Dec. 2, one day after a community prayer vigil was held on behalf of the legendary Motown singer in her hometown of Detroit. Franklin wasn’t at the vigil, but in a statement she thanked the City Council, saying “All prayers are good.”

The son of soul legend Aretha Franklin is in emergency surgery in a Michigan hospital after he was severely beaten by three teens at a gas station in Detroit Monday evening, the singing icon spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Detroit Police spokeswoman Eren Stephens said a female acquaintance was with Franklin at the filling station in one of Motor City’s roughest neighborhoods just before the beating took place. The woman walked into the gas station, and when she returned, the assault had taken place, Stephens said. The woman then drove Franklin to the hospital, dropped him off and headed to a police station to file a report.

The witness says there were possibly three suspects involved in the overnight attack — two males and one female. The witness describes one of the males to be about six feet tall, with dreadlocks and dark skin complexion. The young woman was described as about 19-years-old, with short hair.

Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact The Detroit Police.

Aretha Franklin was left “highly insulted” earlier this month after she was asked to become the latest celebrity spokesperson for weight-loss giant Jenny Craig.

The Queen of Soul — who tips the scales at nearly 300 pounds nowadays — signed up with the company two years ago and dropped 25 pounds on a 1,750 calorie-a-day diet. Aretha quit Jenny Craig a few months later, complaining that she was “always starving.”

In the June 2007 issue of Sister 2 Sister Magazine, Aretha, 67, said: “I lost 23 or 24 pounds to begin with, but it’s kind of a strain when you get to 23 or 24 pounds. That’s why I got off of it. It’s a strain because you’re eating the Jenny Craig-type meals, which are very good. But you can only eat them for so long before you want some barbecue ribs or some pigs feet. Once you get off that Jenny Craig thing and you start eating what you’ve been eating, it’s all over.”

Aretha Franklin celebrated her 67th birthday in Detroit on Monday–with a cake decorated like the hat she wore to President Obama’s inauguration in January.

Aretha says the Washington-based museum wants the grey, felt topper for an exhibit on Obama’s inauguration.

The Queen of Soul says she’s considering making the donation.

Luke Song, the Detriot-based hatmaker who made the headwear soul legend Aretha Franklin wore to the inauguration of President Barack Obama, has been inundated with orders for the the grey hat with a Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow.

We even have a lot of men calling to get it for their wives, mothers and grandmothers,” Luke said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.

“They want the same hat, but they understand it’s for the queen only. Ninety-nine percent said, ‘That’s fine. I’ll get the next best thing.’”