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Pop superstar Madonna is under fire (again) following an Instagram post in which she claimed she makes her employees work for free… which we think technically makes them volunteers.
The music legend, who is said to be worth an estimated $850 million, took to ">Instagram yesterday to show off a photo spread by photographer Steven Klein. But it was the caption to that image kicked off the controversy.
“Proud of my collaboration with @stevenkleinstudio For @vmagazine and knowing that against all odds,” she wrote. “And with very little support from non artistic people who kept pushing back and the fact that we did it with almost zero budget we were still able to make ART! Art is not dead if you have the strength to fight for what you believe in.”
“Thanks to all who did support us and slept on couches and worked long hours and for free all to support madame ❌ who is not only here to disturb the peace but to keep Art alive I send you all a BIG kiss,” she concluded.
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Related: Right-wing nuts cheer for Madonna after she expresses solidarity with anti-vaxxers
Many of Madonna’s followers immediately voiced criticism over the remarks, noting that with her vast fortune, nobody on her team should go unpaid.
“Sleeping on couches and working for FREE to support madame X???? Can’t believe It!!!!!! Sorry #madamex is reach!! She must support talent for emerging artist,” wrote user deloscobos.
“Oh god if you as Madonna have almost zero budget, I don’t know what hope there is for unsigned artists like us,” said thealphasmusic.
“So basically you’re a multi millionaire & u expect people to work for free to support you? Just because you call it art they don’t get paid,” echoed clairebarnes76.
“The definition of exploitation = People working for you for free in the name of ‘art,'” charged morvan_forever.
We could go on, but we think you get the point.
Other users took issue with an image of Steven Klein holding a knife to Madonna’s throat, claiming that it promotes violence against women.
At the time of this writing, the singer hasn’t commented any further on the post, which remains active on her Instagram account.
Madonna, who is no stranger to controversy, has earned the ire of fans recently for a number of incendiary statements. Earlier this year she attacked “cancel culture” as a form of censorship. She also defended anti-vaxxers amid ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns, compared transphobic comedian Dave Chappelle to LGBTQ activist James Baldwin, and compared Britney Spears conservatorship to “slavery.”
Cam
Once people become rich or famous, they seem to join THAT group and forget any other group they were once a part of.
Another super wealthy person not paying employees.
joverit
I stopped being a fan when she called the demon sperm doctor her hero… and no matter how often or loud she claims she was a queer ally since the 80’s, she was not
THAT Steve
Maybe her two defenders here can tell us anything she’s done over the years. All I can honestly think she did for the gay community was to put hot guys in her videos, which TBH was probably more about distracting folks from how weak her voice was pre-Evita than fan enjoyment.
Man About Town
Well, when Ellen interviewed her in 2009 to discuss bullying, she clearly said “I wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for the gay community” so it baffles me when people say she’s never been an ally.
THAT Steve
That says we bought her stuff. Gay iconography is not support. I’ve honestly seen nothing tangible she’s done other than dance music and gay AF videos.
BoomerMyles
She’s publicly attacked gay figures like Ian McKellen, Elton John and her own brother.
Has she ever raised money in the 80’s or 90’s for AIDS?
She’s no ally.
Ricky Rocky
No fool like an old fool. (I’m older than she and know a damn fool when I see one.)
fukurfeels7676
Quick looking in the mirror stupid fag
ddonts
Madonna is, and always has been, white trash.
DarkZephyr
Seems to me if they all volunteered to help her free of charge, then that would be their business.
howardstern
Pretty much what you said, but then again nobody wants to hear that. Lol. We have no idea what their agreement was. Of course it would be better if she paid them but if they rather preferred it hanging out with her and sleeping at her place that’s on them.
MickeyMoose
Any freelancer struggling to get a start in whatever endeavor or business is their dream is constantly hearing the call to work for free from people who themselves would never stoop so low. What people are talking about here, sir, and which apparently has gone over your head, is that a decent human being pays those who work for them—but especially so, those who are rolling in dough. But yeah, go right on ahead and keep defending this scumbag imbalance of power dynamic by the 1%. Detroit white trash Madonna will always be.
Cam
Except when she says to employees “If you want to be a part of this, we’ll need volunteers, and it is very important to me”.
GentlemanCaller
Using her fame and status to exploit her fans for free labor is not an equitable “volunteer” relationship in which individuals happily donate their labor in support of a common cause; it’s selfish, abusive, cynical, and loathsome. Madonna in a nutshell.
KyleMichelSullivan
There is NO EXCUSE for someone as wealthy as Madonna not to pay people for their time. ZERO excuse.
G-Man
Agreed!
GlobeTrotter
I once heard an interview with Madonna, where she talked about how she became such a wealthy individual. Her secret? She doesn’t spend money on ANYTHING. “Do you think I got so rich by spending money? NO!” According to her, she’s very frugal, never spending a dime unless absolutely necessary. As rich as she is, she claimed that if she still bends over to pick up a dime if she finds one on the street. So the accusations in this article come as no surprise.
GentlemanCaller
tr*mp said the exact same thing. Great company she’s keeping. On the other hand, she told us who she was way back with “Material Girl,” so we shouldn’t be surprised.
barryaksarben
SHe makes it sound like she alone is saving ART for the entire world. SHe is full of shit as she always has been. She is a pop singer and yes pop music is art but is hardly the only form of art or the highest. I am so tired of people who make it then pull the ladder up on everyone else. Being paid for their work may help the next “artist” break thru while just slaving over her stuff of which she will take the largest share of ownership. SHE DIDNT NAME ANY OF THESE PEOPLE to help their art
sam83
Shocking another queerty click bait trash article slamming Madonna bc anything written about her gets the most comments. Do you all really believe she isn’t paying her employees? She has never been sued for this and her words and being completely taken out of context.
Madonna builds entire hospitals in Africa with her own $ and you don’t hear about that nor is the queerty hate ever directed at Britney, Gaga, Beyonce or others when they are in the wrong.
moretruth
Amen
MickeyMoose
Hey, BlowHard – where’s your evidence? Oh yeah – you ain’t got none!
fukurfeels7676
PREACH!
Fahd
Madonna is in the wrong on this. The phenomenon of the exploitation of the “unpaid intern” is more and more a thing in “Art” and other “desirable” professions (e.g. an unpaid intern at an investment bank). There should be labor laws to prevent this sort of casual exploitation.
Paulie P
Pretty sure the botox, restylan, filler and all else have clogged her mind. She stopped being relevant many years ago. Don’t get me wrong still sing along to her OLD hits when they are on the radio but Madge lost her appeal years ago.
greekboy
Tell me again. Who is she or who was she?
AZ71
Good grief. What did she do to her face? Combo of fillers to look like a Kardashian? Thank goodness Cyndi Lauper, who emerged at the exact same time, has embraced her age and looks amazing.
Doug
Of course, yet another photo spread of Madonna, which to her, is “art.”
SDR94103
I don’t believe this hit piece. queerty, do your homework.
moretruth
Exactly
GentlemanCaller
It’s literally a reproduction of her own Instagram post, sweety. Sorry it doesn’t conform to your mental image of Madonna as some sort of good, pure, and still-relevant artist.
Openminded
I’m betting there’s more to the story than Queerty reported. Was the “collaboration” for a charity fundraiser? It doesn’t make sense that she would brag about not paying workers. Of course, it is entirely possible that she did take advantage of over zealous fans who would probably lick her A** clean just to be able to get near her. In the end, if nobody was coerced into the work, it’s kind of like a good orgy, all among consenting adults and somebody is always going to get screwed.
wikidBSTN
Hag Trump Wannabe
Hank31
How is this gay news? Because she did an AIDS fundraiser 40 years ago?
ScottOnEarth
Does anyone take her seriously anymore? She is a caricature of a once-great maverick who is now a completely out-of-touch, wealthy relic who cares nothing about the real world. Someone took photographs of her, “against all odds,” and it’s art? Not to mention the fact that the photographs are certainly photoshopped beyond recognition. I never thought this once-amazing woman would turn into the female donald trump: selfish, clueless, elitist and totally unappealing.
TomOH
She is not worth 850 million. Not even close. Even Prince wasn’t this wealthy when he passed. Let’s cut that last digit out of there. Qweerty, come on now…
Openminded
She may or may not be. Celebrity net worth is typically just a best guess estimate based on estimated ticket sales, known contract amounts, etc. Without knowing a person’s investment habits, spending habits, and charitable habits among just a few factors, there is no way to accurately estimate a person’s net worth. Some people can take a few dollars and turn it into millions while others can take millions and turn it into a few dollars.
MickeyMoose
Madonna is about as original and genuine as that plastik face of hers.
Max
if she said they did it for free, then that’s what it was since she posted it. but should that not be the case, she needs to clearly communicate and stop being immature about it. it’s not clever at all.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
I am not surprised at anything this lonely poor white trailer park trash does or says. She is what she is, trash. Trash that got lucky and got a contract because she was able to manipulate nothing else but sleaze. No, it doesn’t shock me that at an age where she should be chatting with fans in Central Park while playing with her grandchildren (both of her children are of child bearing age) she’s in a gym preparing to make a sleepy cameo appearance at a useless award show (which is what ALL of those awards shows have become).
And by the way Madonna my dear, every time the radio starts to play your screeching version of the Santa Baby I change the station. You are what you are, yesterday’s news that now even your die hard fans are beginning to realize. When was the last HIT you had made? Do worry, I don’t remember either but I am almost sure it was the still popular Vogue.
trolldiva
Oh, dear. I’m sure Madge will be visited by 3 ghosts on Christmas Eve!
indulged
Hey peanut gallery, what a short memory so many of you have.
This is the same person who, on the ascent in her career, spoke out and provided PSAs on the truth of HIV/AIDS within the leaflet of Like a Prayer.
She was NOT at the height of her fame and, considering the societal temperature, the gamble was unprecedented. Not even our own government had done effective public education. There were still public officials who avoided the crisis altogether.
White trash, too wealthy to care, irrelevant…your poo-pooing on someone who stepped up to the plate for us when an entire generation of gay men were being experimented on, rejected by the public, disowned by their families and ridiculed as they died alone or were left physically disfigured in the hundreds and thousands.
Consider she likely declined Queertly’s interview request or something—who then stalks her social media in hopes of finding a retaliatory (s)hitpiece…hmm, think not?
I’m not even much of a fan, but you bunch of rabid Nancies jonesing with your straws & chasing your lines warrant a reminder, if not a reality check…but whatever.
Jim
Hey lay off the media whore. She’s doing what she knows how to do. Get attention.
She calls it art but we all know better.
Heywood Jablowme
We are living in a Material World
And she is a Material Little Old Lady
THAT Steve
I wish there was a like button on here!
Kangol2
Madonna is wealthy enough to pay anyone who does anything for her, so I hope she reverses course and hands over the dollars.
As far as her allyship with gay people, Madonna has been an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ people since the beginning of her career. As @indulged noted, very early on she began advocating for people with HIV/AIDS, at a time when doing so was fraught politically and career-wise. She has openly sung about same-sex desire and LGBTQ people. She has more than once publicly spoken out against anti-gay discrimination, in the US and elsewhere, including while performing in regimes with notorious anti-gay records, like Romania. She advocated for same-sex marriage before it became law; against bullying of gay, queer and trans teens and children; against the ban of out gay children as Boy Scouts; and more. Again and again, when she could have stayed silent or worked behind the scenes, she has been vocal in her support of LGBTQ people.
So while you may not like her, her music, or her plastic surgery, etc., she has repeatedly advocated for LGBTQ people from the time she launched her career. She is the real deal in this regard.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
Are you asking me to believe that YOU of all people have never stopped and asked yourself could the REAL for her support for gay causes is because she IS aware her audience is over seventy percent gay? Are you asking me to believe it never crossed YOUR mind that after noticing well over half of her paying concert fans were gay she could didnt put two and two together as far as the publicity she would be getting in support of those causes? Are you asking me to believe she didn’t intentionally have a few flamboyantly gay dancers (surely you remember Luis Camacho in the vogue videos) because of the ton of publicity they would bring (and sure as hell did do just that). Think back to that Vogue number she did on that award show in the early 90’s and how the sales of that song went past the moon.
She is what she is, trailer park trash who vowed she was not going to die poor and she did just that too. I applaud her for her manipulative skills because she proves the gay community is about as slow as they come to understand manipulation.
Openminded
Sister, your points very well may be exactly what happened, none of us knows. My question to you is, name a star who hasn’t done exactly the same thing. They all pander to their audience for money. Their “job” is entertaining. Entertaining typically requires making the customer happy whether it’s by music, movie acting, comedy, etc. She like all other entertainers do whatever it takes to make their “customers” happy. The “feel good” part of doing something charitable is just icing on the cake for them.
Mr. Stadnick
She is a mean old cow
Gabby
This website and “writers” hate Madonna and these comments are so transparent. 40 years in the game and she is still pissing people off and breaking down doors. Say whatever you want but this woman continues to be successful. I saw her live in 2019 and it was the best concert I have ever attended. I love woman!
CNY1983
she’s still beautiful and youthful at 100.
CityguyUSA
“she claimed she makes her employees work for free… which we think technically makes them volunteers.” No, that would make them slaves.