Aretha Franklin: I Never Had Cancer

Aretha Franklin spent December living through a severe health crisis, surgeries and rumors of incurable diseases, and while she's staying vague about it, there's one thing she wants to clear up: she didn't have cancer.

"Well, there was just so many wild things out there and just so many things being said that weren't true," Franklin told Access Hollywood on Thursday. "I just felt I needed to address it a little."

Franklin told Jet Magazine last week that it was a pain in her side that had started the whole affair.

"Yeah, the pain was so hard it almost brought me to my knees," Franklin said. "I was in Birmingham and then Boston and after that concert the same pain hit me again... I really just began to not feel good and I said, 'Oh, no this is it, I can't do any more concerts till I know what the problem is.'"

And while it took her a few procedures to know what was wrong, she's still not telling. Rest assured, though, all is good with Aretha now.

Franklin underwent emergency surgery on December 2nd, for a mysterious illness that was later reported to be pancreatic cancer -- as relayed by "a family insider." That part, at least, she's denying, saying that no one in her family had ever told her they said that -- and, regardless, it isn't true.

She said last week that her health problems were resolved -- but refused to reveal what they were.

For more, click over to Access Hollywood.

Comments

[blackmagicIII]

02:05 PM on 01/17/2011

Lovely dress, so very flattering; could hardly take my eyes off it.

[skybar]

12:16 PM on 01/17/2011

If she doesn't have cancer, Rolling Stone is going to have to issue a major retraction and apology.

[blaharumph]

11:02 AM on 01/17/2011

could have been something like an obstruction in her intestines, an impaction or something else embarrassing. it's a private matter but it would be good for her to say whether (after the surgery) she will be okay or not... even in a general way.

[kenhamlett]

10:53 AM on 01/17/2011

I sincerely hope this is true, since I am huge Aretha fan. It is strange that some of the people giving attributable quotes were members of her family. But, then, perhaps it is just another case of being able to pick your friends but not your family. May she have a long and happy life.

[CHMB]

10:22 AM on 01/17/2011

Regardless of the health problem, it's great to hear the Queen of Soul is okay. If only everyone were as lucky with regard to health problems.

[moondancer13]

01:24 AM on 01/17/2011

Could have been her gallbladder or appendix. Really, if she doesn't want to say, her health isn't anyone's business, although she does have a lot of fans who care about her. But carrying that amount of excess weight can't be doing her any good.

[Ms Smarty Pants]

12:52 AM on 01/17/2011

When celebraties fell to revel an illness (which is their right to do), one might speculate that in addtion to the medical procedure that was performed to alleviate the pain in her side, I kind of also have a feeling that she may have gotton gastric bypass surgey. Dont know though. But it wouldn't hurt. Just saying...

[LiberalScoop]

07:09 PM on 01/16/2011

My team just lost their playoff game, but I'm a little happier, now. This makes me very happy. Keep singing, Re Re. We love you!

[MEDASI]

02:45 AM on 01/17/2011

i wanted philly, skins or falcons. there i go wit the wishful thinking!!

peace fam

[LiberalScoop]

01:58 PM on 01/17/2011

I'm from Seattle. Talk about wishful thinking. Talk to you later, SI.

[gwensgal]

05:30 PM on 01/16/2011

If she were black enough for her skin to contain the melanin of 15 lighter-skinned women, would you think it appropriate to make a comment that joked about how black she was?

No? Why not?

Just stop.

[phoebequeen]

12:48 PM on 01/16/2011

Wonder if it was a kidney stone?

[riverhouse]

11:40 AM on 01/16/2011

Just keep singing, madam. You are a gift from God.

[yemaya]

09:54 AM on 01/16/2011

could also be gallbladder. when you get an attack you feel like you're dying and yes, a bad one can require emergency galbladder removal because it can literally kill you.

[10LittleIndians]

08:02 AM on 01/16/2011

She probably suffered from a bout of pancreatis. Stop hitting the bottle so hard Aunt Re-Re.

[gwensgal]

03:26 AM on 01/16/2011

Good for her. Whatever the issue is or was, it's no one's business but her own.

Keep getting well, Queen.

[gwensgal]

03:37 AM on 01/16/2011

While young Aretha was always a bit plumper than Berry, if you were to compare some of Aretha's early photos to Halle Berry, the resemblance would not be that far off in actuality.

Furthermore, to compare Aretha Franklin now to Halle Berry now is silly. In fact, it makes the people who insist on doing it look marvelously immature. Does Diana Ross really look like Billie Holiday? Does Whoopi Goldberg really look like Mylie Evers? Does Denzel Washington really look like Malcolm X? Does Beyonce really look like Etta James? Does Jefferey Wright really look like Martin Luther King or Muddy Waters? Does Morgan Freeman really look like God?

Yeah...Get a grip....

[gwensgal]

03:39 AM on 01/16/2011

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gearlog.com/images/aretha_franklin_2.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.gearlog.com/2010/12/aretha_franklin_is_alive_contr.php&usg=__oJXV1iveNR7bckaixVVxYbjEfis=&h=354&w=361&sz=17&hl=en&start=0&sig2=gWj11bRtcZ-6veKirAkKQw&zoom=1&tbnid=AMBLOVLxflhmUM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=142&ei=jK4yTb3AEpDksQPoxMSMBg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daretha%2Bfranklin%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1016%26bih%3D576%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=126&vpy=247&dur=1883&hovh=222&hovw=227&tx=122&ty=126&oei=aK4yTYvuCYr6swPfrYS2BQ&esq=7&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:0