Madonna Calls Out Fan for Sitting at Her Concert Before Realizing They're in a Wheelchair
The interaction is hard to watch.
Madonna has angered fans after calling out a concertgoer for sitting, before realizing they were in a wheelchair.
During a recent show as part of her Celebration Tour, the singer told a fan from the stage, "What you doing sitting down over there? What are you doing sitting down?"
She then got closer to the person in question and realized they were using a wheelchair, after which she told them, "Oh OK, politically incorrect, sorry about that. I’m glad you’re here."
A video of the interaction has gone viral on TikTok, garnering 1 million views at time of writing.
Though many people expressed their anger with the one-liner, "Madonna needs to sit down," others also took to the comment section to explain why this was an inappropriate comment to make.
"She has paid for her ticket why embarrass the poor someone in front of thousands of people Madonna big let down," someone wrote.
"Some people who are not dependent on a wheelchair have health issues and need to sit," wrote someone else.
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"Even if they were not in a wheelchair what’s it got to do with her," added another.
The Celebration Tour is running from Oct. 14 through April 26. Original dates for the North American leg of the tour were rescheduled after Madonna was hospitalized with a serious bacterial infection.
Since recovering, Madonna has been candid about her health scare. In July, she wrote on Instagram, "My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children. My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn't want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone.
"My focus now is my health and getting stronger and I assure you, I'll be back with you as soon as I can!"
A photo posted by madonna
Performing in Los Angeles last week, the popstar told the audience, "This summer I had a surprise. It’s called, um, a near-death experience. Yes, and I’m not kidding. It was pretty scary. Obviously, I didn’t know for four days, because I was in an induced coma. But when I woke up, the first word I said was 'No.' Anyway, that’s what my assistant tells me. And I’m pretty sure that God was saying to me, 'Do you wanna come with us? You wanna come with me? You wanna go this way?' And I said, 'No. No. No!'"
Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.