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A slightly random one, but at the beginning of Miles Away on the Sticky & Sweet DVD, she yells, “are you having a good time?”. I really don’t know how this became a thing, but during lockdown my boyfriend and I would be working in separate rooms. Every now and then we would shout it across the flat to acknowledge the other was still there. ?

Living For Love, Rebel Heart Tour - the opening procession up the runway towards the main stage, right up to “I let down my guard”, when the cape comes off. I saw both shows at the O2 in London. On both nights the crowd went insane when that damn cape finally disrobed without incident!

Hung Up, The Confessions Tour - everything from, “But it’ll be too late”, when the music goes quiet, up to and including, “I don’t know what to do”, followed by THAT epic catwalk down the runway, dry-humping the boom box, crash to the floor, head thrown back, balloon drop and CHORUS!

Some thoughts from black, transgender comedian Flame Monroe:

Hey New_Boy. I just caught up with all the comments overnight and wanted to say thank you for watching the Closer special. There were at least 3 people on the thread who had some very strong things to say about Chappelle who hadn’t watched it. Personally, I don’t think it’s fair to criticise someone without listening to what they’ve said first, in it’s entirety, within its original context. I appreciate you took the time to watch it and form a more nuanced opinion, and (*spoiler alert*), in part, I think we might even agree! I definitely felt there were many things Chappelle said during the show that were offensive (especially that repeated space Jews joke?!), but that doesn’t necessarily make him bigoted/racist/transphobic/misogynistic. I agree it’s also an older style of comedy. Perhaps where we disagree is my appreciation of satire and his provocative, uncomfortable humour to draw attention to serious issues. I understand that might not be appreciated by a younger, more sensitive audience. For full disclosure, I’m 40, and I laughed quite a few times. Does that make me old?! ? I’m guessing you’re probably younger than me, but even if it’s a dated style of comedy, older people deserve to laugh to. Regardless of how it’s delivered, it’s still drawing attention to these issues and stimulating conversation and debate. People don’t always agree, but shutting down the conversation - cancelling people - inhibits any further opportunity for understanding, and I think we agree about that. I’ve watched many of Blaire White’s videos and interviews and I think she’s brilliant. I’m less interested in the trans-related topics and more about her politics. Again, for full disclosure I’m not American. I live in the UK, but I’m definitely not a fan of progressive social liberalism and woke ideology. I’d describe myself as a classical liberal, slightly centre-right, especially when it comes to fiscal economics, and more closely aligned with Dave Rubin if you’ve ever watched any of his videos. I disagree with you regarding the Guy Oseary comment. I’ve noticed a lot of fans blaming Oseary for every perceived mid-step in Madonna’s career, as if she’s completely oblivious and incapable of making these decisions on her own. She’s a big girl. She was clearly involved with the edit and having sorted through this discussion, I believe she included Chappelle because his speech (and career) clearly chimes with the ‘artist’s are here to disturb the peace’ mantra of the show. That doesn’t necessarily mean she agrees with everything he says though, but she clearly recognises and supports an artist’s right to freedom of speech. I could be wrong, it’s just my opinion, but I believe that’s why she included him in the show. I suppose the long and short of it, is that we don’t all think the same. We’re not always going to agree, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friendly, kind and engaged with one another. This thread has revealed a range of opinions, which we’re all entitled to, and I’m glad I engaged with you in this discussion. I hope you are too. For everything we may disagree upon, I hope you at least considered my posts polite and respectful. I do take offence at being told I ‘should be ashamed’ and ‘to go fuck myself’. You’re clearly very passionate about these issues, and I respect that, but it’s counterproductive to confuse passion with anger. I think you’ll always be more persuasive if you don’t swear and shame others. To quote Madonna, quoting W.H. Auden at the Women’s Rights March, “we must love one another or die”. Despite our differences, I genuinely hope there is far more that can unite us, namely our passion for Madonna! Which, funnily enough, brings me full circle back to Dave Chappelle and a final quote from Daphne: T“I don’t need you to understand me, just believe I’m having a human experience”. Peace and good day to you. ? x

Don’t do it! You’ll miss the concluding episodes of Grace & Frankie. ?

I think you missed my point, which is not to judge people without listening properly to what they have to say. If you did watch the entirety of his show, you’d realise Chappelle is definitely not a bully. Quite the opposite in fact. Personally, I try not to judge people based on small nuggets of information, assumptions or from the opinions of others. I’d at least listen carefully to everything they have to say first, before drawing my conclusions. But of course, you’re entitled to your opinion as well. No disrespect intended.?

Okay, I don’t want to antagonise you. All I’d say is, as a Madonna fan I can think back on countless examples of people accusing her of being a whore, a witch, a child snatcher, a racist, the devil… all because they judged a short video clip or saw a photo in a magazine. Perhaps if they’d give her the time of day, listened, opened their hearts and minds, they would have reached a very different conclusion. Madonna clearly values what Chappelle had to say. I’m not suggesting we all have to agree with everything she thinks; but I would have thought his inclusion in the Madame X film would be enough of a reason to try and understand him a little bit better. I genuinely think you might be surprised if you did watch the entirety of his show.

I think you should read through the thread. If you do, you’d quickly realise the controversy surrounding Chappelle and trans people has existed long before he spoke at the L.A Madame X show, and of course Madonna would have been aware of it. No one is stirring shit about M, I only asked out of genuine curiosity what people thought about his inclusion in the concert film, given his recent controversy. Have you even seen the Chappelle show in question on Netflix? If you haven’t, I’d suggest watching it in it’s entirety before drawing conclusions about him. Based on what you’ve written, it sounds like you’ve already formed an opinion, without even giving him the opportunity to hear what he has to to say.

Are you talking about to Da Baby’s HIV comments? I think there’s quite a big difference between Chappelle’s brand of comedy and Da Baby’s rant. A lot of people clearly understand the empathetic intentions of Chappelle’s performance, even if his message is delivered in a provocative way. Conversely, Da Baby’s HIV speech was so bizarrely ignorant, offensive, out of touch, and impossible to justify. He wasn’t making a joke or trying to breakdown misconceptions through comedy. He just genuinely thought gay people living with HIV are disgusting. It was said without any irony and he assumed his audience would agree with him.

I completely agree. I also accept some people may not understand his intentions and if even if they did, they may still be offended by the provocative way he delivers his message. In that respect, I think he and Madonna are very aligned. I can’t count the number of times she has been misquoted or prejudged out of context. I assume that’s the reason why she included him in the concert film.

Okay, I watched it. It was quite funny and poignant. I understand the message ContraPoints is making, but I can also acknowledge Blaire White’s point of view. I’m not trans and it’s definitely not my place to say either one is right or wrong. They’re both entitled to their opinion and clearly there is difference of opinion amongst trans people. Likewise, gay people can disagree with one another. Black people can disagree with each other. Madonna fans can disagree with one another! As proven here today, just because you exist within the same social demographic group doesn’t mean you have the same lived experiences or opinions. To be clear, I’m not ‘using my oppression to oppress others’. I’m not looking for sympathy either. I only stated my identity for you to understand that I’m not some ignorant person who has no history, empathy or understanding of what bigotry and hate is. I get it. I know how it feels and I’m not unsympathetic to others who experience it beyond me. But I also understand the importance of freedom of speech, debate, discussion and acknowledging it’s possible to agree to disagree, without being aggressive or disrespectful. You attacked me when I was trying to engage in a polite and meaningful discussion about Madonna, which has now gone off-topic. With that said, and having read through the comments, there’s clearly a range of opinions, which is making us think and discuss these issues, so for that reason, I’m glad Madonna included Chappelle in the concert special. Artists are here to disturb the peace and it has definitely been disturbed today! Thank you for responding to the thread. I’ll now leave you in… peace!

I’m the person who opened this thread. Thank you for your response. I was hoping for a nuanced discussion rather being told to be ashamed and ‘fuck myself’. For your information I’m gay, mixed race, born Muslim, an immigrant and a vegan. I’m also a huge Madonna fan, which is why I’m on this forum. With exception to my gender identity I could be the poster boy for intersectional identity politics and I am well aware of what bigotry, hate and shame feel like. I put quotation marks arounds the words ‘transphobia’ because I acknowledge people can have different points of view and I didn’t want to offend anyone. I’m not a trans person and I don’t want to speak on anyone else’s behalf, therefore I think it would be far more appropriate to listen to the words of someone who is trans to appreciate the nuances of their opinion. I would urge you to watch the video below before making any further assumptions about me, ‘the trans community’ or Dave Chappelle. My only intention here today was to engage in thoughtful and meaningful discussion about Madonna and freedom of speech. I am not here to offend anyone.

By that same logic should Viacom (who own Paramount + and MTV), insist on removing the Chappelle segment from Madame X or remove the show completely if Madonna refuses to comply? Should she publicly denounce Chappelle’s statements? It’s worth noting Chappelle has been accused of transphobia, homophobia, racism and misogyny long before his speech during the Madame X L.A show, so this ‘new’ controversy is only the latest in a string of accusations. Madonna would have been aware of those accusations, so by including him in the film I believe she has already stated her support for his right to have an opinion, EVEN if she doesn’t necessarily agree with it. ‘Express Yourself’ is the cornerstone of Madonna’s career and surely the point of freedom of speech, is that differing opinions should not be silenced, just because one group doesn’t agree with another? I’m not trying to be antagonistic here, but who has the right to dictate what another person says or thinks?

Okay, very serious topic to discuss, which is potentially quite volatile, but I’m genuinely interested to know where other Madonna’s fans sit on this debate. As I’m sure most of you know by now, comedian Dave Chappelle featured in the recent Madame X movie, where he gave a lengthy speech about art and freedom. Obviously the Madame X movie only premiered a couple of weeks ago, but the clip was filmed during the L.A shows, in 2019. Chappelle is now under fire (again) for ‘transphobic’ jokes in a recent stand-up special, called ‘Closer’, available on Netflix. Today, some Netflix employees (we’ll see how many) are staging a walk-out in response to their employees’ refusal to take-down the Chappelle special. I strongly advise anyone who hasn’t seen Closer to watch it ASAP, so you can form your own opinion of Chappelle’s comments before it gets taken down. He also speaks at length about cancel culture, which is deeply ironic given the current situation. Clearly Madonna is no stranger to provocation and controversial opinions, and she has unfailingly supported freedom of speech throughout her career. However, her support for the LGBT+ community is also legendary and she even showed an image of a ‘black trans lives matter’ placard during I Rise, towards the end of the Madame X concert special. So my question is this - what should she do in regards to Dave Chappelle ‘transphobic’ controversy? She could say nothing, but that might risk some accusing her of silently supporting Chappelle’s alleged transphobia. She could publicly reiterate her support for him and freedom of speech, but that would almost certainly land her in hot water, with accusations of transphobia and double standards. She could jump on the cancel culture band wagon, and remove his segment from the show, and denounce his opinion. I’m genuinely curious to know what people think. I suspect this topic could be a hot potato, so for the sake of not being wishy-washy, I am happy to state my opinion first. Having watched the Closer special, I don’t think Chappelle is transphobic. I do believe it should remain on Netflix for everyone to see and judge for themselves. I definitely don’t think Chappelle’s speech should be removed from the Madame X concert special, and I do believe Madonna should risk her own popularity and publicly state her support for all artists right to freedom of speech. She’s talked an awful lot about being a freedom fighter, particularly over the last 2 years. The controversy surrounding Chappelle is a genuine opportunity to ‘walk the walk’ and put action to her words. Much like J.K. Rowling, I believe Madonna’s too big (and already far to divisive) to really be cancelled at this point in her career, but if she really believes in freedom of speech, then now is the time to speak out in support of Chappelle, and risk her own popularity for what she truly believes in. She may even gain some new fans in the process. Thoughts?

and… done! Hmm ?… what to make of Madame X? It definitely was/is a very different tour/film, than anything she’s ever done before, so it sort of becomes irrelevant to make too many comparisons to her previous work. That said, it left me with a very different feeling - quietly thought-provoking, rather than physically-exhausting, and definitely not as satisfyingly entertaining as any of her previous shows. It reminded me more of ‘I’m Going To Tell You A Secret’, than any particular concert recording. I don’t necessarily see that as a negative though. She’s an artist still taking chances at a point in her career when a greatest hits tour would’ve been a far easier money-maker - and taking those risks is what makes her so enduring. Flashing her arse here there and everywhere, kind of distracts from the intelligence of her artistry, which is a shame, because she clearly has more interesting things to say. This show doesn’t attempt to summarise her entire career, but represents who and where she is in the right world now - and that’s just fine. Madame X is another unexpected turn, in a continuously remarkable career. I wonder where we’ll be travelling to next!

I’m really glad people are enjoying it. Maybe this one wasn’t for me, but in my humble opinion the over-editing is far worse than MDNA or Rebel Heart. There’s so much extra video footage chucked in here, there and everywhere. I’m genuinely surprised some fans are saying this is better? Each to their own I guess! In the plus column, the audio in the songs is better and so far I only noticed the patch on/patch off continuity ‘errors’ and wig changes during act II.

I just spotted a shot a woman shown during Rebel Heart as well. WTF?!!

This might sound random but… I’m watching in the UK now. At the beginning of American Life there was a very brief shot of a guy in the audience. The lighting looked very red. I could be wrong but he looked really, really similar to a shot of the same guy in the MDNA tour, shown just before Like A Virgin, where she says, “and if you have a problem with my ass, you can kiss it”. I’m hoping someone will be able to confirm via a screen grab. Is she recycling old crowd footage?!

She’s not wearing a mask because she’s already tested positive for the antibodies. Fine - except scientists already assume the virus will mutate, and they don’t yet know how long immunity may last. So until a vaccine is available, no one is immune. If she gets ill, she’ll only have herself to blame. I can’t believe she would put her children’s lives at risk. She’s done a fantastic job educating and raising awareness on Instagram over the last week. Far better than most celebrities and fair-weather social justice warriors, and I commend her for that. It’s obvious she cares, she clearly has a very deep understanding of the issues, and can point towards the solutions. However, standing in a crowd of thousands of people during a viral pandemic, in a country with the second highest death rate in the world, is so unbelievably dumb! She’s been led by anger and emotion, in a situation that requires cool heads and a rational response. She’s more intelligent than this. I truly hope she doesn’t live to regret her decision. As for the rest of the protestors who almost certainly haven’t been tested - I say, shame on them. Deafeating Coronavirus is far more important than protesting racism right now. I make no apologise if that’s not a politically correct thing to say, because coronavirus doesn’t care about institutionalised racism and police brutality. The whole world has been on lockdown to save everyone’s lives. People have given up their freedom. Some have lost their jobs; all for the greater good of humankind. These protesters think their anger elevates them above the law, and they’re putting all our lives at risk if the infection rate spikes again. The police won’t break up the protests because they know someone will inevitably get injured, it’ll get caught on social media, and then we’ll be right back where started! Every Thursday at 8pm, for weeks on end, the whole country applauded the UK’s national health service, thanking all the doctors and nurses for putting their lives at risk, to save ours. Many of those health care providers have died treating, protecting and caring for others. Their sacrifice will be in vain, if these protests create further infections. Coronavirus won’t go away just because people got bored of lockdown and turned their attention to another news story.

I wonder if the ‘oh fuck off’ in the video is directed at her? Why do I get the feeling she’ll get dragged for this somehow? It’s a no-win situation - you don’t post on social media and your accused of being complicit by your silence. Okay, so you post something and then your accused of virtue signalling to make yourself look good! Now she’s turned up at the protest and you just know they’ll be people calling her out for trying to make this all about her. Aye-aye-aye-aye... That said, I don’t agree with her being there. The hypocrisy of the UK media bullying Dominic Cummings for days on end when he broke lockdown, but now there are now thousands upon thousands of people taking to the streets across the world, risking a second spike of infection, when the rest of us are staying at home, maintaining social distance and doing our best to reduce the rate of infection. Where’s the condemnation from the media now? I’m not saying the protesters cause is not worthwhile or important. Of course it is, but now is not the time to be risking thousands more lives! Black lives matter, but Coronavirus is a far bigger problem for the entire world right now. Reducing the rate of infection by maintaining social distance should be everyone’s first priority, not these protests.

I went back and watched them all again, since I'm so bored and stuck at home! This is actually really, really tough. I like all of them in their own unique ways. The Virgin Tour performance is brilliant in it's simplicity. It just feels so easy and joyful. It's very much of it's time and that tour. With the heavier rock guitar, I guess she wanted a sound that would really fill the stadiums she was playing on the Who's That Girl Tour. I don't dislike it but this might be my least favourite. Blond Ambition is perfect. To me, this IS Holiday, probably because it's the closest to the Immaculate Collection. Then again, I love how it evolved in the Girlie Show with the military theme, and the call and response with the audience. I hadn't even thought about it until now, but it was a great way to incorporate the dominance and submission themes of the Erotica album and Girlie Show, into a song that has absolutely nothing to do with either. The Drowned World Tour performance mashed-up with Stardust was so effortlessly cool, but it lacked the scale of the 2 previous tours, with all the dancers on the stage together. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, because it fit the tour really well, and there was something very special about seeing M flanked by Nicki and Donna again, which showed how much she (and her audience) had matured and grown over the years. Re-Invention might've been my second least favourite when I first saw it, only because it's so different and takes a while before the melody kicks in, but... in a way that's what makes it so cool! It builds, and builds, and builds, until it explodes into the song we all know and love! I just wish it were longer. The Sticky & Sweet Celebration performance has so much energy, but it was extremely poignant too. I remember seeing both shows at the O2 London where MJ would have performed his final This Is It concert series. It was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, and a genuine moment where everyone in the arena applauded. As a fan of both, I felt so sad to think I would never see MJ perform again, but at the same time, so grateful and happy to have Madonna still around. Which leaves Rebel Heart (& Tears of a Clown). I don't dislike the Rebel Heart performance but there isn't anything about it that particularly sticks in my mind. The flags around the world had already been done in Reinvention and the arrangement is basically the same as the first album with a couple of breakdowns added. I always find it odd when people walk out of concerts before the final song because they're so desperate to beat the traffic, but in this instance I honestly wouldn't have cared if I'd missed it. In fact I'll go so far as saying I would've preferred to end the show with the original Avicii uptempo mix of Rebel Heart, although I appreciate that wouldn't have been as a good a crowd-pleaser! All that said, I think the evolution of Holiday is a brilliant example of what make Madonna so special and unique as a performer. To evolve a song in so many ways is the very reason why she's remained so interesting to me over the years. Most veteran performers have a tick-list of songs on their set-lists, so you know exactly what you're getting, but Madonna doesn't want to just repeat herself, and I love the ways she's re-invented her back catalogue over each tour, particularly in the latter part of her career. It doesn't always work to everyone's satisfaction, but it always keeps things interesting. Great question!

This is tough! Blond Ambition and Girlie Show are absolute classics, but I'm going with Sticky & Sweet. I loved the remix with Celebration and the MJ breakdown was awesome. It was such an uplifting moment in the show and I wish it had been included as an extra on the DVD (along with Frozen and Dress You Up).

Oh, hell yeah! I queued overnight in the cold. It was exhausting, but I'll never forget when the lights went down and the sound of the running horses thundering all around me. That show was FIRE! x

He’s so petty, desperate and jealous, but it’s also quite sad when you think about it. It’s like the playground bully lashing out just to get everyone’s attention. Elton John is the same. Isn’t it strange how the mainstream media never call out either of them and refer to their beef with Madonna as a ‘feud’. As far as I can recall, she has only ever responded when asked about it, all be it in a slightly passive-aggressive way; but you can bet the media would be all over it, if she were Taylor Swift! Then again, victimhood is Taylor (and Gaga’s) stock-in-trade! I’m glad Madonna doesn’t complain about it relentlessly. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction; but unfortunately, ageism and misogyny do walk hand-in-hand, and it remains the last form of unchecked-bigotry in our society. Things will change eventually.