Aretha Franklin is not happy. She’s not happy with the odd write- around piece in this week’s New Yorker by editor in chief David Remnick. (I’m actually surprised by it myself as Remnick usually does such a good job.)

The lengthy piece carries barely a quote from Aretha, but lots and lots of biographical detail ferreted from other sources. In particular, the main source seems to be David Ritz’s questionable (and poor selling) unauthorized biography published 18 months ago. Ritz scrapped together outtakes from the official biography he’d written with Aretha in 1999, and published them without her permission.

Remnick seems not to get it as he mucks around in tabloid sensationalism. Remnick says of Ritz’s book “none of the sources, including those closest to her, have backed away.” That’s because nearly everyone he cites is dead and nothing can be verified. So much for being a “skilled biographer.” (The books, called “Respect,” but which shows none, sits at number 33,363 on amazon.com, bereft of sales.)

Aretha told me she rejects Remnick’s whole line of reasoning about why she threw her mink down on the Kennedy Center stage this past December– because, Remnick says, it something to do with the church, or with gospel. (In all likelihood, she was recalling pop star Jackie Wilson, her friend and fellow Detroiter.)

She told me in an email: “He’s the kind of writer who makes it bad for other writers…clearly he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s quoting people who are deceased and clearly he knows nothing about the church and little about my father— AND THE FUR ON FLOOR AT KENNEDY CENTER HAD NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH THE CHURCH !!!! You give valuable time you could spend with WELL MEANING PEOPLE AND POSITIVE PEOPLE AND WIND UP SOMETIMES WITH UNAPPRECIATIVE NEGATIVE PEOPLE LIKE THIS WRITER !!! Unfortunately it’s par for the course and it’s the downside of show business. It’s too bad we don’t have a crystal ball and and could see them coming so we don’t waste valuable time with them!!!”

The real story of Aretha Franklin in 2016 is seeing her perform live. The concerts I’ve seen just in the last year, some of them of are the best of her career. She is a magnificent presence, unequaled and never to be duplicated, still able to offer a singular, remarkable voice and sometimes even, a little dance that shows there’s plenty of life left in the Queen of Soul. I wish Remnick had focused more on that.

PS I almost did a spit-take when I read what must be the the greatest name drop in this century. Remnick– looking for support– actually wrote these words: “I emailed President Obama…” He did what??? Talk about throwing down your fur…

The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame show is set for April 8th in Brooklyn at the Barclay’s Center. The inductees are Chicago, Deep Purple, Steve Miller Band, and Cheap Trick. NWA, the rap group that spawned Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, and became the story of “Straight Outta Compton,” will be the sole nod to diversity.

This year’s ceremony will exclude women, classic R&B, country, sidemen and women (instrumentalists), famed producers. The sole extra award will go to the late Bert Berns, founder of Bang Records, a controversial figure who was involved with both Janis Joplin and Atlantic Records. A musical based on Berns’ life, “Piece of My Heart,” played off Broadway last year and is possibly headed to Broadway this fall.

The irony is that Berns will get the Ahmet Ertegun Award, name for the co-founder of Atlantic Records. The Berns musical casts Ertegun and Jerry Wexler as villains in Berns’s life story. (A friend of Berns’ told me today, “Bert Berns’ biggest enemy was himself.”)

There will be no one in the Early Influencers category, and no sidemen/sidewomen. No classic R&B or doo wop. No country influences. The Hall is already promoting Kendrick Lamar as a presenter, simply to have a black name artist for their HBO special.

But mostly, this is a very white Rock Hall induction. Another irony: the show is coming the Barclays, which was really a passion project of Jay Z.

So many great artists remain out in the cold– from Nile Rodgers to Chubby Checker, Joe Tex, Mary Wells, Billy Preston, Rufus and Carla Thomas, and so on. There’s also The Moody Blues, Carly Simon, Roxy Music (and Bryan Ferry), a slew of groups from the 70s, real pioneers like Faye Adams, and so on– all missing.

But when Ahmet Ertegun died, all control of the Hall was left to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner. As one observer told me recently, “Once Ahmet died, the Hall became the Jann Wenner dog and pony show.”

Woof.