On September 12 2011, Madonna released a video in response to the controversy surrounding her dislike for hydrangeas.

On September 1, Madonna attended a press conference for her directorial debut W.E. at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. Just prior to the beginning of the conference, Madonna was handed a hydrangea by a fan. Although she accepted the flowers with a smile and told the fan “thank you,” she immediately turned to her costar, and with a hot mic, said, “I absolutely loathe hydrangeas. He obviously doesn’t know that.”  Madonna’s remark quickly became a subject of controversy in celebrity news, leading to much online gossips and commentaries criticizing her fuss over flowers.