Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Queen of strop
Stage rage Madge: Cuff me
MADONNA has stepped up her battle with the London Palladium and its local council, telling fans she is prepared to be arrested.
The 61-year-old claimed the famous venue tried to “censor” her by lowering the fire curtain at her Wednesday show as she performed after an 11pm curfew.
During her concert there on Thursday, which finished on time, Madge blasted: “Let’s get down to business. I don’t have time to play around... i’m not going to stand on ceremony. You know there’s an iron curtain waiting for me. Some handcuffs? I hope someone will arrest me.”
Later she added that the curfew had put her on a “stopwatch”, saying: “I’m here to tell stories, and if you put me in a cage, and you punish me, then I don’t want to tell stories. So have a word with Westminster Council.”
Bosses of the theatre – owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber – had denied her claims and said in a statement: “At no point during Wednesday’s performance did staff at the London Palladium pull down, or attempt to pull down, the Iron Fire Curtain.”
Madonna shared a video of Wednesday’s events on Instagram, in which she can be heard having a sweary rant at theatre staff and she is seen finishing her performance in front of red drapes.
She captioned the post: “Artists Are Here to Disturb the Peace ..... it was 5 minutes past our 11:00 curfew – we had one more song to do and The Palladium decided to censor us by pulling down the metal fire curtain that weighs nine tons. “Fortunately they stopped it half way and no one was hurt… Many thanks to the entire audience who did not move and never left us. Power to The People!!” Her Madame X shows have become known for their raunchy subject matter and swearing.
An iron curtain is waiting for me. Some handcuffs? I hope someone will arrest me
MADONNA IN ROW WITH LONDON PALLADIUM