Tag Archives: Controversy

Today in Madonna History: March 22, 2001

March 22, 2025 By in 2001, March Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment

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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 in 2001, March Tags: , , , , , , 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.”

Today In Madonna History: February 22, 1991

February 22, 2025 By in 1991, February Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

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On February 22 1991, Madonna’s  Justify My Love VHS single was certified 4x platinum (400,000 units) in the USA.

Today in Madonna History: January 21, 2017

January 21, 2025 By in 2017, January Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

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On January 21 2017, Madonna participated in the Women’s March on Washington. In addition to delivering a powerful speech (watch the full video below), Madonna also performed Express Yourself and Human Nature.

Here is the full transcript of the speech Madonna delivered to over 500,000 people:

“Hello.

“Are you still awake out there?

“Are you sure about that?

“Can you hear me?

“Are you ready to shake up up the world?

“Welcome to the revolution of love. To the rebellion. To our refusal as women to accept this new age of tyranny. Where not just women are in danger but all marginalized people. Where people uniquely different might be considered a crime. It took us this darkness to wake us the fuck up.

“It seems as though we had all slipped into a false sense of comfort. That justice would prevail and that good would win in the end. Well, good did not win this election but good will win in the end. So what today means is that we are far from the end. Today marks the beginning, the beginning of our story. The revolution starts here. The fight for the right to be free, to be who we are, to be equal. Let’s march together through this darkness and with each step. Know that we are not afraid. That we are not alone, that we will not back down. That there is power in our unity and that no opposing force stands a chance in the face of true solidarity.

“And to our detractors that insist that this March will never add up to anything, fuck you. Fuck you. It is the beginning of much needed change. Change that will require sacrifice, people. Change that will require many of us to make different choices in our lives, but this is the hallmark of revolution. So my question to you today is are you ready? I said, are you ready? Say yes, we are ready. Say, yes we are ready. One more time: you’re ready.

“Yes, I’m angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot of blowing up the White House, but I know that this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair. As the poet, W.H. Auden once wrote on the eve of World War II: We must love one another or die.

“I choose love. Are you with me? Say this with me: We choose love. We choose love. We choose love.”

Today in Madonna History: January 15, 1993

January 15, 2025 By in 1993, January Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

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On January 15 1993, Body of Evidence was released across North America. The erotic thriller was produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by Uli Edel.  The film starred Madonna and Willem Dafoe, with Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, Julianne Moore and Jürgen Prochnow in supporting roles.

The theatrical release for the film received the rare NC-17 rating (“No Children Under 17 Admitted”).

Sex was a game to her. She got off on the control. She always used to tell me it had to be her way.

When was the last time you watched Body of Evidence? Thoughts?

Today in Madonna History: December 5, 1992

December 5, 2024 By in 1992, December Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

On December 5 1992, Madonna’s Deeper and Deeper single was the week’s Hot Shot Debut entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., bowing in at #38.

Pop radio had taken an immediate liking to Deeper and Deeper upon the album’s release, with some stations choosing to spin it in favor of the album’s darker lead single, well ahead of its official promotional launch. The support wasn’t unanimous, however, as Madonna was facing a severe public backlash following the release of her Sex book and the forthcoming release of the film Body Of Evidence.

The fact that Deeper and Deeper managed to climb to #7 on the Hot 100 amidst a tidal wave of contempt is a true testament to song’s irresistible appeal.

Today in Madonna History: November 27, 1990

November 27, 2024 By in 1990, November Tags: , , , 1 Comment

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On November 27 1990, the MTV network announced it had banned Madonna’s Justify My Love video due to extremely strong displays of sexuality.

“We respect her work as an artist and think she makes great videos,” said MTV executives in a statement about the clip. “This one is not for us.”

“When I did my Vogue video…I’m wearing a see-through dress and you can clearly see my breasts,” Madonna told ABC’s Nightline in 1990. “MTV told me that they wanted me to take that out, but I said I wouldn’t and they played it anyways. So I thought that once again I was going to be able to bend the rules a little bit.”