Remember that time Madonna started her Celebration Tour concert in New York nearly three hours late, then two ticket holders from that night banded together to sue her, and Her Madgesty’s lawyers rebutted saying they were going to fight the case “vigorously!” but the kicker in all of it was that Madonna used to charge her backup dancers $100 for every minute they were late to rehearsals? Hey, you know that we are living in a material world! Experience has made Madge rich and now they’re after her. We haven’t had an update on the case, but last week Madonna made a concert-related faux pas of an entirely new variety at a Los Angeles tour stop. She singled out an audience member for not standing up to dance. Then she moved closer to the audience to further call out the person for not dancing. Yeah, the fan she was zeroing in on was a wheelchair user. Quicker than a ray of light did Madge backtrack and resume the show, but the interwebs caught the moment on video:
Madonna has been filmed apologising to a concertgoer in a wheelchair, after she initially questioned why they weren’t standing up while she performed.
In footage taken during the US leg of her Celebration tour and shared on social media in recent days, the singer, speaking on her microphone, tells the audience member: “Take this ride with me! What are you doing sitting down over there? What are you doing sitting down?”, before walking over to the person to cheers from the audience.
Upon realising her mistake, she says: “Oh, OK. Politically incorrect, sorry about that. I’m glad you’re here.” The Guardian has contacted her UK representatives for further comment.
Madonna plays the final concert of a five-night run at Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Monday night, before heading across southern states for the remainder of the Celebration tour’s US leg.
She caused controversy earlier on in the tour by starting a New York concert at 10.30pm, resulting in a lawsuit from a disgruntled pair of fans. Her management team and promoter Live Nation said they would “vigorously” defend the suit, saying the late start arose from a technical problem during a sound check.
Celebration is taking place following a postponement last year when Madonna suffered a serious bacterial infection and was hospitalised in June. She later said the health scare made her realise “how lucky I am to be alive”.
Um, is it “politically incorrect,” or more like common decency-incorrect? Asking a wheelchair user to stand up, or anyone for that matter, doesn’t seem political so much as something you should not do. As a general rule, I don’t like performers (or DJs) directing me to “clap!” or “wave your arms!” or “bunny hop!” That’s mainly down to my near virulent response at being told what to do, ever. I see a welcome mat that says “Have an awesome day!” and am like I don’t have to!! (I know I know, I’m delightful.) So I’m not a fan of Madonna — or any artist — demanding the audience “take this ride” with her. It’s also woefully ignorant of people with disabilities, visible or not. And that’s kind of the point: everyone has their own ways of responding to or experiencing something. That includes people of diverse physical capabilities attending a concert (that they likely paid a hefty ticket price for). At least Madonna stopped as soon as she realized her error, although her apology was a bit terse, and I still think “politically incorrect” is an incorrect characterization.
Photos credit: Papculture/Backgrid and via Instagram
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