On May 3 1991, Madonna appeared on the cover of The New York Post with the headline, “What A Tramp!” The article focused on Madonna’s Truth Or Dare documentary. In the article, Ray Kerrison called Madonna, “vulgar” and the “degenerate queen of sleaze.”
Jay’s Note: I bet Ray Kerrison had no idea that this particular cover of The New York Post would become one of the most sought after and iconic covers of all-time. You could write just about anything alongside this image from the Justify My Love single cover and it would still be beautiful.
On April 15 1991, Madonna and Michael Jackson were featured on the cover of People magazine as The Oddest Couple.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
It may have been just a one-night stand, but when Pop’s Billion Dollar Boy and the Queen of Steam strutted their stuff at the Oscars, they were, for one brief moment, the brightest star couple of all.
As anyone burdened with stardom knows, finding a date for the Oscars can be an enormo pain. After all, really famous folk simply can’t be seen with some sweet nobody who waves “Hi Mom” at the camera and spends the evening worrying about credit-card approval at Spago.
And so it was, when Madonna and Michael Jackson, Earth’s top pop stars, faced the who-is-famous-enough-to-be-seen-with-me quandary, they hit on the perfect solution. Since they were already planning a duet for Michael’s upcoming album, Dangerous, and since they both happened to be on all Hollywood’s collagen-enhanced lips anyway—he for his ballyhooed “billion-dollar” contract with Sony, she for her upcoming, already controversial self-ploitation film, Truth or Dare-why not date…each other?
Big dates can also become big disasters, however. So a week before the Oscars, the couple met at L.A.’s Ivy restaurant to plan and, perhaps, trade makeup tips. By Oscar night, all was ready. Michael looked positively legendary in gold-tipped cowboy boots, a blinding diamond brooch and—in a dramatic sartorial departure—two gloves. Madonna, awash in peroxide and pluck, diverted at least some of the attention from her low-cut, pearl-encrusted Bob Mackie gown with $20 million in diamonds, on loan from jeweler Harry Winston. They entered L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium and promptly collected their well-deserved Best Seat honors—front row, two on the aisle.
On January 21 1992, a lawsuit was filed against Madonna by 3 ex-dancers: Oliver Crumes, Kevin Stea and Gabriel Trupin – they charged her with invasion of privacy, fraud and deceit, intentional misrepresentation, suppression of fact, and intentional infliction of emotional distress for exposing their private lives in her 1991 film documentary Truth or Dare.
In a commercial for MTV’s Rock the Vote campaign later that year, Madonna joked about the lawsuit, saying, “You’re probably thinking that’s not a very good reason to vote… So sue me! Everybody else does.”
In October 1994, after more than two years of litigation, the suit was withdrawn and an undisclosed settlement was reached.
On December 4 2011, shoe designer John Fluevog told the Calgary Herald’s Theresa Tayler that he never expected that Madonna would pay her respects by whipping out a pair of shoes he had gifted to her, putting them on during a scene in her infamous, documentary Truth Or Dare.
“Yah like ‘em?!” she said, as she flirted with the camera, showing off the “Munster” platforms. At the time, it was a massive publicity break for the respected, but still little-known, Canadian designer.
Fluevog told Tayler that he rarely tells the story of how Madge ended up with a pair of his kicks:
“I don’t really like giving away shoes. It’s not what I do. This is a business. One night I was watching Madonna on one of those American talk shows. She was being very naughty, talking about spankings and saying all of these silly things. I thought, this is a game player. Her whole thing is a game. She needs a pair of my shoes.”
Fluevog then sent one of Madonna’s stylists a pair of his shoes and he never heard back.
“Not a thank you, not anything. Then, someone told me she wore them in the movie . . . I didn’t like Madonna’s game. I found it annoying, but I respected what she was doing. The movie moment was a game-changer for Fluevog. Things exploded for us. It was all a bit of shock to me.”
On May 28 1990, Madonna played the second of a three show run at the Skydome in Toronto, Canada during her Blond Ambition Tour.
As the story goes, the concert on May 28th was attended by a Toronto police detective who became uncomfortable with Madonna’s simulated sexual theatrics. The detective complained to the Crown attorney, who became convinced–based on how it had been described–that the show on the 29th should not be permitted to proceed with similar content.
Supt. Frank Bergen was one of the constables sent to follow up on the complaint on May 29th, which was subsequently captured in Madonna’s film Truth Or Dare. Bergen recalled the events in a recent interview with The Canadian Press:
What I was struggling with was how do you go to the microphone and tell everyone the show is cancelled?My role and my position was we were not going to shut the show down. We were portrayed as being real knobs, if you will [in the documentary]. I don’t think we were…I don’t think we ever got to the (point), nor would we have, where we walked up onto the stage – and onto her bed – and handcuffed her. Then we would’ve been part of a different history.”
It took a year before the officer would hear about his cinematic debut in Truth or Dare, when one afternoon his teenage neighbour excitedly shouted across the backyard that he’d spotted him on the big screen.
Bergen said he respects concerns over obscenity but concedes it would’ve been difficult to satisfy a “loose interpretation of the Criminal Code.”
On January 17 2023, Madonna issued a press release announcing The Celebration Tour:
Today, Madonna announced Madonna: The Celebration Tour, in an iconic viral video with a wink to her groundbreaking film Truth or Dare. The video (click here for trailer version) features notable names such as Diplo, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, Lil Wayne, Bob The Drag Queen, Kate Berlant, Larry Owens, Meg Stalter, Eric Andre and culminates with Amy Schumer daring the global superstar to go on tour and perform her four decades of mega hits. Madonna, the best-selling female solo touring artist of all time, rises to the challenge announcing The Celebration Tour which will be highlighting her unmatched catalog of music from the past 40 plus years.
Produced by Live Nation, the 35-city global tour will kick off in North America on Saturday, July 15th at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC with stops in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and more before making its way to Europe where she will hit 11 cities throughout the fall, including London, Barcelona, Paris, and Stockholm, among others. The Celebration Tour will wrap in Amsterdam, NL on Friday, December 1st at Ziggo Dome.
The Celebration Tour will take us on Madonna’s artistic journey through four decades and pays respect to the city of New York where her career in music began. “I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” states Madonna.
The Celebration Tour will offer a one-of-a-kind experience with special guest Bob the Drag Queen a.k.a. Caldwell Tidicue across all dates on the global tour.
TICKETS: Tickets go on sale Friday, January 20 and Friday, January 27at 10am local time at madonna.com/tour.
FAN CLUB PRESALE: Legacy members of Madonna’s Official Fan Club will have a pre-sale opportunity for the shows that go on sale on Friday, January 20 beginning Tuesday, January 17 at 12pm ET through Wednesday, January 18 at 5pm ET for the North America based shows and from 9am GMT/10am CET to 5pm GMT/6pm CET on Wednesday, January 18 for UK and European shows. An additional Legacy pre-sale for the North American based shows going on sale on January 27th begins on Monday, January 23 (10am) through Wednesday, January 25 (5pm).
U.S. CITI PRESALE: Citi is the official card of Madonna The Celebration Tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets for shows going on sale January 20th beginning Tuesday, January 17 at 2pm local time through Thursday, January 19 at 6pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. The Citi cardmember presale for the shows going on sale on January 27 will begin Tuesday, January 24 at 10am local time through Thursday, January 26 at 6pm local time. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.
CANADA AMEX PRESALE: American Express Cardmembers will have access to presale tickets in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal beginning Wednesday January 18 at 10am local time through Thursday, January 19 at 6pm local time. Visit ticketmaster.ca/americanexpress)] to purchase tickets. Ticket limits & terms apply.
EUROPE AMEX PRESALE: American Express Cardmembers can purchase tickets to Madonna’s tour in Sweden, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Belgium before the general public. Pre-sale open from 18 January at 9am, until 19 January at 6pm.
VIP: Fans can also purchase VIP Packages, which may include premium tickets, exclusive access to a behind the scenes tour, group photo on-stage, pre-show reception, limited edition lithograph & more. For more information, visit vipnation.com.
THE CELEBRATION TOUR NORTH AMERICAN DATES:
Sat Jul 15 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Tue Jul 18 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Sat Jul 22 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
Tue Jul 25 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Thu Jul 27 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
Sun Jul 30 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Wed Aug 02 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Sat Aug 05 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Mon. Aug 07 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
Wed Aug 09 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sun Aug 13 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Sat Aug 19 – Montreal, QC – Centre Bell
Wed Aug 23 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Thu Aug 24 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Wed Aug 30 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Sat Sep 02 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Tue Sep 05 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
Thu Sep 07 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Sat Sep 09 – Miami, FL – Miami-Dade Arena
Wed Sep 13 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Mon Sep 18 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Thu Sep 21 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ATX
Wed Sep 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
Wed Oct 04 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center
Sat Oct 07 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
THE CELEBRATION TOUR EUROPE DATES:
Sat Oct 14 – London, UK – The O2
Sat Oct 21 – Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis
Wed. Oct. 25 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
Sat Oct 28 – Stockholm, SE – Tele2
Wed Nov 01 – Barcelona, ES – Palau Sant Jordi
Mon Nov 06 – Lisbon, PT – Altice Arena
Sun Nov 12 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
Mon Nov 13 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
Wed Nov 15 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
Thu Nov 23 – Milan, IT – Mediolanum Forum
Tue Nov 28 – Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena
Fri Dec 1 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
Today In Madonna History 