The pastor apologised, saying "It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast ... I don’t know, I guess I put my arm around her. Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but, again, I apologise."
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During the American "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin's funeral held on Friday, Bishop Charles Ellis III, who officiated the event, was captured on video seemingly groping the singer Ariana Grande's breast, and was slammed by various parties for sexual harassment, to which Ellis released a public apology in video form.
Footage and photos captured show Bishop Ellis' hands around Ariana Grande's chest, well above her waist, with his fingers groping her right breast.
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Against the pastor's claim that the groping was an accident, some netizens commented, "18 seconds in she makes an awkward turn, seemingly to move his hand, and he pulls tighter and puts it back where it was. He might as well have said "me too" into the mic and dropped it."
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Others commented, "Yikes. Her body language looks incredibly tense, what a creep."
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HONG KONG (AP) — Prominent Hong Kong political and business leaders paid tribute Monday to the city's late billionaire property tycoon Lee Shau-kee, who led one of the biggest real estate empires in the former British territory.
Lee, who died at age 97 on March 17, was once ranked as the richest man in Asia. In Forbes’ February ranking, he was listed as the city’s second-richest person with $29.2 billion in assets.
Lee founded Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd. in 1976, and his empire helped shape the Asian financial hub's skyline. The company's portfolio includes landmarks such as the International Finance Centre complex and ifc mall in Central, a vibrant commercial district. His business interests also expanded into other sectors such as hotels, utilities and ferries in the city.
Nicknamed “Uncle Four," Lee was ranked the richest person in Asia and the world's fourth-wealthiest person by Forbes in 1996. He was Henderson Land's chairman and managing director before stepping down from the position in 2019. He was succeeded by his sons, Peter Lee and Martin Lee, the company’s co-chairpersons.
Like other tycoons, who rose in the city's postwar economic boom and then thrived as mainland China abandoned orthodox Marxism, Lee met with former top Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. In 2007, a decade after the end of British colonial rule, the Hong Kong government awarded him the Grand Bauhinia Medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to education and community service.
According to Henderson Land, committee members overseeing his funeral included Hong Kong's leading official, John Lee, former city leaders Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying, and Zheng Yanxiong, director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong. Other business and political heavyweights were also part of the committee.
On Sunday, Zheng, Lee and other former and current government officials, as well as Richard Li, the younger son of Hong Kong's richest person Li Ka-shing, and property tycoons Thomas Kwok and Raymond Kwok, paid their respects to Lee during a vigil.
Buddhist rites were performed during the service on Monday. His body will be transported to his ancestral homeland in Shunde district, Guangdong province, the coastal region in southern China across from Hong Kong where Lee, like so many top Hong Kong business leaders, was born. He moved to the city in 1948, one year before the communists swept to power in mainland China, targeting land owners as they went, and became a key player in the city's real estate industry.
Known as Hong Kong’s “Warren Buffett” for his investment acumen, he was also a leading philanthropist who contributed significantly to the development of both Hong Kong and mainland China.
FILE - Henderson Land Development's founder and chairman Lee Shau Kee attends a news conference as he announces his retirement after the company's general meeting in Hong Kong, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, file)
