Pop goddess and gay icon Madonna has made headlines yet again, this time following a concert at the London Palladium in which stagehands lowered the fire curtain on her show. The concert had surpassed the 11 pm curfew mandated by the city.
“F*ck you motherf*ckers, censorship, motherf*cking censorship, artists are here to disturb the peace,” Madonna declared before launching into her encore number, the Pride anthem “I Rise.” Her backup dancers also brandished a Pride Flag for the number.
Madonna herself later elaborated on the incident on Instagram. “It was 5 minutes past our 11:00 curfew – we had one more song to do and The Palladium decided to censor us by pulling down the metal fire curtain that weighs 9 tons,” she wrote. “Fortunately they stopped it halfway and no one was hurt. Many Thanks to the entire Audience who did not move and never left us. Power to The People!!”
Related: Madonna posts cryptic message on social media following yet another concert cancellation
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Social media generally greeted Madonna’s “protest” with positive reception. “Love that I got to witness Madonna at her most rebellious tonight. She overran so they closed the curtain on her TWICE. She just burst through and carried on regardless,” Twitter user @dazgale wrote.
Love that I got to witness Madonna at her most rebellious tonight. She overran so they closed the curtain on her TWICE. She just burst through and carried on regardless.
— Daz (@dazgale) February 5, 2020
The Palladium incident comes as something of a breath of fresh air for Madonna, who has struggled with various health issues on her current tour resulting in several concert cancellations.
JPDonahue
I guess she’s feeling better?
Did the show start on time?
There ARE laws for most venues. Violations mean heavy fines… for the venue.
Or, like trump, is she above the law?
Soooo… she was rude and verbally abusive to the crew who were doing their job…
It’s getting harder and harder to support her behavior.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
“Or, like trump, is she above the law?”
Between us I think she’s forgotten that RULES are RULES and they DO apply to her. I too wondered if the show started on time. I’ve never coughed up a dime to see her and out of the millions of records she sold I only bought two and both are 12 inch one song vinyl records that require a record player (I still have an extensive vinyl record collection that I REFUSE to throw away because theres nothing wrong with them or my record player).
winemaker
Really who really cares about this overpaid ingrate and has been? Wasted click, move on!
richardNobbs
There are laws in nearly every theater in every town with a union. Stagehands who need have their overtime mapped out and agreed to may wind up not getting paid. Madonna as a well known rep for being late and not seemingly caring about the consequences for the backstage folk. To label this some sort of censorship is beyond a low blow.
frapachino
Just another “rules only apply to other people” elitist.
ShiningSex
Like Trump?
ShiningSex
Maybe they thought the show was over because she was so late to attend and the call time came. LOL!!!
LARRY
Madonna who?
justgeo
Would the bitch pay for the overtime?
GentlemanCaller
Maybe if she’d started on time they wouldn’t have closed the theatre around her. Bitch needs to learn the world does not revolve around her ass.
nitejonboy
Who’s Madonna ? Just looks like some angry old woman to me.
khan72
“Blah blah blah, artists are here to disturb the peace,”
The Justices of the Peace Act 2018 is part of the Common Law and stipulates 6 months of jail for persons accused of disturbing the peace in public
Jail the bitch, she’d love it – she lives for publicity and nothing else
truthseeker
Who’s that blonde Chinese lady?
Dwight
Apparently she has confused contractual issues with censorship.
Gabby
After 35 years of continuously working this tour is earning her the best reviews of her career. I saw the show in NYC and was blown away.
marion
Poor Madonna! Does she actually think she is fighting something here? Maybe show up on time.