Whitney’s beloved mentor said she had medical issues which kept her from the ceremony, but she played a sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall that evening. Did controversy keep her from the event?

Whitney Houston‘s Feb. 18 funeral had two startling absences — her scandalous ex-husband Bobby Brown as well as close family friend Aretha Franklin. And while the latter cited “leg spasms” as the reason she couldn’t attend, a new report suggests that controversial comments Aretha, 69, made about Whitney’s drug problems could have lost her an invitation!

Aretha was on the Feb. 17 episode of The Today Show, where she spoke candidly about Whitney, who died at 48 — and many took the comments as a slam against Whitney’s mother Cissy Houston.

“Parents have to really talk to their children before they leave home,” she said. “They have to make sure when they leave home, they have all the right things. She left home with all the right things, but she just kind of lost her way along the way.”

The New York Daily News reports that in spite of the medical excuse, the real reason for Aretha’s absence seems to be stress that the comments put on her relationship with Cissy.

It seems a little far-fetched, but consider this: leg spasms didn’t keep Aretha from singing a sold-out show that same evening at Radio City Music Hall!

Do YOU think Aretha was really sick — or did her comments cost her a seat at the funeral, HollywoodLifers?

– William Earl

Bobby Brown Proved At Funeral He Cares More About His Own Ego Than His Grieving Daughter Bobbi Kristina

More Stories About Whitney’s Funeral:

1. Whitney Houston: Buried In A New Jersey Cemetery
2. Bobbi Kristina Brown Didn’t Know Bobby Brown Left Whitney Houston Funeral
3. Bobbi Kristina Brown’s Emotional Breakdown At Whitney Houston’s Funeral