Madonna acknowledged at a recent concert that it was “politically incorrect” to urge a fan in a wheelchair to stand up. Still, the pop icon faces accusations of ableist behavior on social media.
The “Material Girl” and “Like a Virgin” diva, 65, sparked backlash over the weekend after a video, purportedly from a Celebration Tour concert at the Kia Forum this month, went viral. In it shortenMadge excites her audience and encourages them to “take this journey with me.”
“What are you doing sitting there?” asks the singer, pointing to a concertgoer. “What are you doing sitting?”
He walks to the end of the stage to get a closer look at the fan, who he sees is in a wheelchair. “Oh, okay, politically incorrect, sorry,” he tells the concertgoer.
“I'm glad you're here,” the Grammy winner adds, before seemingly mocking her mistake. “Oh Lord.”
As Madonna emerged from her faux pas, several social media users were left hanging on to the moment. Public speaker and author Ola Ojewumi, who is a wheelchair user, described Madonna on X (formerly Twitter) as “ableist trash.”
Ojewumi compared the viral moment to the treatment he received from rapper Lupe Fiasco at a previous concert. The writer said the “Show Goes On” artist “saw me sitting at a standing concert and seemed confused.” Ojewumi added that Lupe Fiasco made the concert very special by taking photos with her backstage, dedicating a song to her and more.
“That's the difference between an artist and what Madonna is: ableist trash,” he wrote.
“Madonna was crazy for telling a wheelchair user to defend her songs,” wrote user @gagasyuyi.
Lachi, a musician and disability advocate, who is blind, also damned Madonna for her comments and challenged the singer to compensate the fan.
“Madonna, do you know how difficult it is for us disabled people to attend these shows, from the ticket sales to the prying eyes?” he said. wrote. “Girl, be happier! Get that wheelchair user a photo shoot or SOMETHING, because it was really hard.”
Additional critics slammed the singer for asking a concertgoer why they were sitting. “Many people have medical conditions, many people get tired, many people are in wheelchairs,” he wrote. user @@INZ0MB1A.
On the other hand, some fans online came to the Queen of Pop's defense. “I couldn't see that the person was in a wheelchair.” wrote @MCiccone94, “leave her alone.”
“Everyone, wheelchair or not, should be standing at a Madonna show” tweeted @iamthelastlaw.
Representatives for the singer and her tour did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment.
Madonna kicked off her Celebration Tour in Europe in the fall of 2023, months after suffering a bacterial infection and delaying her shows as a result. The singer began her shows at the Kia Forum last week with concerts on March 4, 5, 7 and 9. Her appearance at the Inglewood venue ends Monday night.
Times critic Mikael Wood wrote that the singer's celebratory tour “was curiously short on joy.”
“A pop concert is a theater of personality and art, not of plot or character development,” he added. “But such a confusing narrative needed more fuss.”
