Celebrity Mound

Singer Etta James says she was only trying to get a laugh when she said she “can’t stand” Beyoncé and made fun of President Obama’s ears during a concert in Seattle.

James told the Daily News Thursday she meant no harm when she poked fun at the President and ripped Beyoncé for her performance of James’ hit “At Last” during the inauguration.

“I didn’t really mean anything,” James said. “Even as a little child, I’ve always had that comedian kind of attitude. … That’s probably what went into it.”
Still, James acknowledged being miffed she wasn’t invited to perform her signature song for Obama’s first dance with his wife on inauguration night.

James said she was “feeling left out of something that was basically mine, that I had done every time you look around.”

She said she liked Beyoncé’s performance, but when asked if she thought she could have done better, James answered, “I think so. That’s a shame to say that.”

James made the controversial comments before performing the song at a concert in Seattle last week. She began by saying of Obama, “You know your President, right? You know the one with the big ears?”

She went on to say about Beyoncé, “I tell you that woman he had singing for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whupped.”

James said Thursday she kept the insults rolling only because the crowd was laughing so hard, a reaction that can be heard on a recording.

“Nobody was getting mad at me in Seattle,” she said. “They were all laughing, and it was funny.”

She said the jokes were “not from a vicious place.”

James pointed out that she posed for a picture and spoke with Beyoncé last year before the premiere of “Cadillac Records,” in which the young singer portrays the 71-year-old legend.

As for Obama, James said she “always thought he was handsome and he was cool.”

“I still had my joke about him,” she said. “That might be horrible. The President might not ever like me in life.”

She questioned how upset Obama could possibly be about the barb: “He’s got other stuff [to worry about] besides Etta James.”

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Oh snap! Just when we thought Etta James may have been happy about Beyonce singing her song “At Last” for the Prez and First Ladies’ First Dance on Inauguration night, we were thoroughly wrong. Fierce Kitty Etta showed who the real Diva was popped off extra hard on Beyonce during her concert in Seattle a few nights ago. She told the crowd: You know, YOUR President, the one with the big ears-he ain’t MY President–had that woman singing for him at his Inauguration. She’s going to get her ass whooped….Beyonce…I can’t stand Beyonce.”

She went on asking “How dare Beyonce sing MY song that I been singing forever. Now I’m going to sing it for y’all….” I wonder if she whispered something in Beyonce’s ear during the Cadillac Records premiere.

Chick even popped off on President Obama. I would ask if she smoked something before she hopped on stage, but that would be inappropriate. Even the Seattle papers were shocked. I always knew Ms. Etta was fiesty, but damn. Somebody no likey Beyonce–at all. Check the audio here.

SCAN-DUHL!

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Beyonce Knowles certainly had some challenging shoes to fill by playing the legendary Etta James in the upcoming “Cadillac Records,” and the task took its toll on the world-renowned performer.

“I walked off set and went home at night with swollen eyes and very grouchy women,” Beyonce told Tarts. “I definitely was — let’s just say after the movie I said I have to go and make me a bunch of love songs and get back into my own life.”

It is no wonder the “Irreplaceable” singer battled the blues while working on the film given that she was spending so much of her spare time with real heroin addicts to prepare for the part.

“I went to go visit the Phoenix house and I met a lot of women that were recovering heroin addicts and it was really interesting to understand the need of the addiction,” Knowles said. “I had to tap into things in my life that gave me as much pain which was something that taught me a lot about myself.”

Even though the music mogul and her hubby Jay-Z just topped the Annual Forbes Highest-Earning Couples list after boosting the bank balance with an estimated $162 million collectively in the past year, Beyonce insisted she is just like you and me.

“I have many challenges like everyone else, I’m no different. I’m human you know, I have my insecurities,” she said. “I’m a vulnerable, emotional person but I can’t complain, I’m very blessed and fortunate.”

Pop Tarts spies also spotted Beyonce and her wealthy hubby having dinner at Miami’s new Fountainbleu Hotel on Friday. The music moguls were approached for a pic from some excited fans but while Jay-Z said he was happy to be in the picture, he told them he wouldn’t pose.

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BEYONCÉ spent some time in a drug rehab facility last year – but not for an addiction of her own. The squeaky-clean singer wanted to research her role as drug-ravaged R&B legend Etta James in the upcoming movie, “Cadillac Records,” and spent lots of time talking to recovering addicts at Brooklyn’s Phoenix House. As a result of her experience, next week’s premieres of the film in New York and Los Angeles will benefit Phoenix House.

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Chloe Sevigny

Adrien Brody and Beyonce Knowles

The LA Times reports the singer has already met with reps from DC Comics about starring in the flick, due out in 2011. “A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It’s time for that, right?” she says. Knowles, who once pranced around in her underwear in an “Austin Powers” picture, has her work cut out for her if she hopes to squeeze into Lynda Carter’s iconic red, white and blue bathing suit. “I would defi nitely have to keep it right for that costume,” she says.

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