‘Beyond disrespectful’: At VMAs, Madonna gets backlash after bizarre Aretha Franklin tribute
After Aretha Franklin died last week, MTV’s Video Music Awards producers scrambled to plan a tribute that would air during the network’s annual telecast on Monday night. The stakes were high to honor the great soul singer - and unfortunately, thanks to a bizarre speech from Madonna, it didn’t go so well.
It started as Madonna arrived on the VMAs stage at the end of the night to present the video of the year award. At first, she launched into a monologue that appeared to be a tribute: “Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life,” she said. “I left Detroit when I was 18. $35 in my pocket. My dream was to make it as a professional dancer.”
OK, Franklin was from Detroit, so this could go somewhere interesting. The audience settled in.
“After years of struggling and being broke, I decided to go to auditions for musical theater. I heard the pay was better. I had no training or dreams of ever becoming a singer, but I went for it. I got cut, and rejected from every audition,” Madonna continued. “Then, one day, a French disco sensation was looking for backup singers and dancers for his world tour. I thought, ‘Why not?’ The worst that can happen is I could go back to getting robbed, held at gunpoint and being mistaken for a prostitute in my third-floor walk-up that was also a crack house.”
So … that was an unexpected segue. However, Madonna briefly seemed to get back on track; during the audition for the French disco star, she said, she decided to sing “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” because one of her favorite albums was Franklin’s “Lady Soul.”
“I could see that they did not take me seriously. And why should they?” Madonna said. “Some skinny-a- white girl is going to come up here and belt out a song by one of the greatest soul singers that ever lived?”
But the story quickly went off the rails as it turned into a long anecdote about Madonna getting rejected from the audition, and then going to Paris, and then coming back home to learn to play guitar. Finally, she said: “So, you are probably all wondering why I am telling you this story. There is a connection.”
“Because none of this would have happened, could have happened, without our lady of soul. She led me to where I am today,” she continued. “And I know she influenced so many people in this house tonight, in this room tonight. And I want to thank you, Aretha, for empowering all of us. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Long live the queen.”
Instead of ending there, Madonna went on with an unrelated anecdote about a wardrobe malfunction at the 1984 VMAs while she was performing “Like a Virgin.” While this seemed to go over well among those in the VMAs audience, many people watching at home were not too happy.
While producers had aired a clip of Franklin singing “I Say a Little Prayer” right before Madonna arrived onstage, which looked like a setup for a tribute, Madonna took to Instagram on Tuesday to clarify that her anecdote was not, in fact, intended as a tribute to the late singer:
“I was asked to present video of the year by MTV! And then they asked me to share any anecdotes I had in my career connected to Aretha Franklin! I shared a part of my journey and thanked Aretha for inspiring me along the way. I did not intend to do a tribute to her!” Madonna wrote. “That would be impossible in 2 minutes with all the noise and tinsel of an award show. I could never do her justice in this context or environment. Unfortunately most people have short attention spans, and are so quick to judge. I love Aretha! R.E.S.P.E.C.T.”