Today in Madonna History: July 2, 1990

July 2, 2025 By Jay in 1990, July Tags: Blond Ambition World Tour, Controversy, Protest, Religion, Vatican 1 Comment

On July 2 1990, Roman Catholic groups condemned Madonna’s Blond Ambition concert as blasphemous due to her controversial show’s sex and religious themes and planned to cancel her concerts in Rome and Turin.

Madonna made this speech in response to the threats:

I am an ltalian-American, and I am proud of it.

Proud of being an American because it is the country I grew up in, the country that gave me the opportunities to be who I am today and a country that believes in freedom of speech and artistic expression.

My show is not a conventional rock show but a theatrical presentation of my music.

And, like theatre it asks questions, provokes thought and takes you on an emotional journey.

Portraying good and bad, light and dark, joy and sorrow, redemption and salvation.

I do not endorse a way of life but describe one, and the audience is left to make its own decisions and judgments.

This is what I consider freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of thought.

Every night, before I go onstage, I say a prayer not only that my show will go well but that the audience will watch with an open heart and an open mind and see it as a celebration of love, life and humanity.

*This is an edited transcript of the speech. The full speech is included in the video posted above.

Today in Madonna History: May 29, 1990

May 29, 2025 By Jay in 1990, May Tags: Blond Ambition World Tour, Controversy, Like A Virgin (Single), Masturbation, Police 1 Comment

On May 29 1990, Toronto police threatened to arrest Madonna on the grounds of lewd and obscene behavior for the Like A Virgin masturbation sequence in her Blond Ambition concert. The show went on unaltered, and no charges were made after the tour manager gave the police an ultimatum: “Cancel the show, and you’ll have to tell 30,000 people why.”

Madonna performed 3 sold-out concerts at the SkyDome, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Today in Madonna History: May 7, 1991

May 7, 2025 By sonicboy19 in 1991, May Tags: Controversy, Gay, LGBT, The Advocate, Truth or Dare 1 Comment

madonna-advocate-1991

On May 7 1991, Madonna admits her bisexuality in a controversial 2-part interview with The Advocate magazine.

Today in Madonna History: April 5, 2011

April 5, 2025 By Jay in 2011, April Tags: Controversy, FBI, Liz Rosenberg, Malawi, Raising Malawi 1 Comment

On April 5 2011, Madonna’s publicist Liz Rosenberg released this statement:

“In recent days a number of wild and totally false rumors about Madonna’s philanthropy–spread by bloggers and tabloids–have begun appearing on the internet. As we have said previously, Raising Malawi is currently undergoing a series of positive changes in an effort to serve more children. Neither Madonna nor Raising Malawi is being investigated by the FBI or the IRS. It is unfortunate that people have chosen to say things about Raising Malawi and Madonna that are not true. Madonna remains committed and focused on what matters helping the children of Malawi.”

Today in Madonna History: March 22, 2001

March 22, 2025 By Jay in 2001, March Tags: Banned, Controversy, Erotica (Single), Guy Ritchie, Justify My Love, Like A Prayer (Single), Music (Album), What It Feels Like For A Girl 1 Comment

On March 22 2001, Madonna’s What It Feels Like For A Girl music video premiered.

The video was directed by Madonna’s then-husband, Guy Ritchie, and was deemed to be “Too Hot for TV” by MTV and VH1 because the video depicted gunplay, assault and suicide.

MTV released this statement about the video and their decision to ban it:

It’s been some time since Madonna ruffled the feathers of MTV or VH1 execs with a controversial video — perhaps not since 1992’s Erotica clip — so just under a decade later, the first lady of shock pop is out to prove she can still make ’em sweat.

Unlike the steamy segments of Erotica, 1990’s Justify My Love, and the one that started it all, Like a Prayer, it’s not the sexual content of What It Feels Like for a Girl that raises the red flag, it’s the violence — a concerted no-no in the post-Columbine, and more recently post-Santana, decision-making process.

The music in the video, it should be noted, is a dance remix of the version found on Madonna’s latest album, Music. The album cut will serve as the LP’s third single.

Directed by her husband, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), the clip depicts gunplay, violent assault and suicide — elements MTV and VH1 prohibit in any videos they air. In it, the pop diva portrays a self-described “nihilistic pissed-off chick” who cruises around town inflicting damage on any man that crosses her path.

After picking up Grandma at the “Ol Kuntz Guest Home,” Madonna crashes into a car full of men who wink at her, threatens male police officers with a squirt gun before sideswiping their vehicle, and mugs a man at an ATM with a stun gun before wrapping her stolen car around a lamppost in what appears to be an intentional act.

The video “shows my character acting out a fantasy and doing things girls are not allowed to do,” Madonna said in a written statement distributed by her record label, Warner Bros. “This is an angry song and I wanted a matching visual with an edgy dance mix.”
Although What It Feels Like for a Girl won’t be added to the music channel’s regular rotation, MTV and VH1 will air the clip just once.

Today In Madonna History: March 16, 2001

March 16, 2025 By sonicboy19 in 2001, March Tags: Banned, Controversy, Guy Ritchie, MTV, VH1, Violence, What It Feels Like For A Girl 1 Comment

On March 16 2001, MTV and VH1 networks announced that Madonna’s new video for What It Feels Like For A Girl would be broadcast only once on March 20 at 11:30 pm because of the controversy over its violent content.

Madonna later released What It Feels Like For A Girl as a DVD single.

Madonna biographer Andrew Morton had this to say about the video:

“The video is entirely consistent with the themes that she has been exploring for the last twenty years, namely the relationship between the sexes, the ambiguity of gender, and the unresolved conflict, for women in a patriarchal society of being fully female and sexual while exercising control over their lives.”