Aretha Franklin Was Tracked By the FBI for 40 Years. Here's What's In Her File [View all]

FROM 1967 TO 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation methodically collected information about Aretha Franklin using false phone calls, surveillance, infiltration, and highly-placed sources, according to the documents obtained earlier this month by Rolling Stone.

Franklin’s FBI file — first requested in via the Freedom of Information Act on Aug. 17, 2018 — is 270 pages long, peppered with phrases like “Black extremists,” “pro-communist,” “hate America,” “radical,” “racial violence,” and “militant Black power” and overflowing with suspicion about the singer, her work, and the other activists and entertainers with whom she she spent time. Some documents are heavily redacted and others indicate that there may be additional materials in the FBI’s possession. Rolling Stone has requested the FBI make available any and all additional records.

“I’m not really sure if my mother was aware that she was being targeted by the FBI and followed. I do know that she had absolutely nothing to hide though,” Aretha Franklin’s son, Kecalf Franklin, tells Rolling Stone.



https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/aretha-franklin-fbi-file-surveillance-1234602217/