Madonna has been causing some controversy over the appearance of an image of France’s Front National party leader, Marine Le Pen, with a swastika on her forehead during the MDNA tour.
To show her love for and allegiance to France, Madonna decided to put on an intimate show for about 2,000 fans, which was streamed on YouTube. The gig lasted 45 minutes, and tickets cost a reported $100 to $300 and sold on Craigslist for more than a thousand. When the show ended and there was no encore, some of the attendees started chanting “Remboursez!” which is French for “refund.” They also chanted “salope,” which means “slut,” and threw water bottles on the stage while yelling “Shame on you!”
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Madonna’s long-time publicist, Liz Rosenberg, has released a statement about the backlash:
Madonna’s Paris club show was planned as her heartfelt thank-you to France, which she expressed at the start of her show.
Despite her gruelling concert tour, she desperately wanted to perform for her fans in an intimate setting at the historic Olympia as a means to honour her love for French artists, French cinema and a tribute to France’s long history of welcoming and inspiring artists, authors, painters, poets and minorities from other countries over the years.
The show was not billed as her full MDNA concert and tremendous effort was made to keep the ticket prices reasonable ($100 for 2,000 floor seats) and keep them strictly to her fans. The show cost Madonna close to a million dollars to produce. She has done a handful of club dates in the past and they were never more than 45 minutes.
And by the way, she put on a fabulous show, which was streamed for millions of fans around the world.
Reading between the lines, I think what Liz is really trying to say is, “Fuck you — you’re not getting your money back.”
And rightfully so! This performance of “Je T’aime, Moi Non Plus” is worth every penny.
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