Madonna stirred controversy when she called out a fan for sitting during her concert before realizing the fan was in a wheelchair.
The incident took place Thursday during a performance at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, which was a stop on her global tour.
"What are you doing sitting down over there?" Madonna said while pointing into a cheering crowd. "What are you doing sitting down?" she repeated before walking to the edge of the stage and taking a closer look.
"Oh, OK. Politically incorrect, sorry about that. I'm glad you're here," she said after realizing the fan was wheelchair-bound.
Footage of the moment soon went viral, drawing widespread backlash from social media users who were quick to slam the Queen of Pop.
"Ok you shouldn't be calling people out for sitting down anyways. She's not the queen of England. Some people are tired or have conditions where they need to sit. You want them to leave altogether?" one person wrote on X.
"She was so cold about it," another person wrote while a third slammed Madonna for being "arrogant."
"They paid for a seat that she doesn't want them sitting in?" added another social media user. "She keeps people waiting for hours and would chide them for sitting down? If I had all the money in the world I wouldn't go to her show. I wouldn't go if it were free."
Madonna has faced criticism for her delayed concert starts during her tour, with fans going as far as to sue her for keeping them waiting.
Earlier this year it emerged that Madonna was facing a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court by Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, who said they bought tickets to a Dec. 13 show at Barclays Center as part of Madonna's Celebration tour, according to The Guardian.
Although the concert was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m., Madonna, 65, did not take to the stage until after 10:30 p.m.
The two concertgoers left at 1 a.m. and claimed they were "left stranded in the middle of the night" and "confronted with limited public transportation, limited ride-sharing, and/or increased public and private transportation costs."
Further, being a weeknight, the late finish affected their ability to "take care of their family responsibilities the next day," the lawsuit alleged.
Fellows and Hadden accused Madonna, Barclays Center, and tour promoter Live Nation of "unconscionable, unfair, and/or deceptive trade practices" for the delayed start time. They argued in their filing that it constitutes a breach of contract and "a wanton exercise in false advertising."
The lawsuit sought class-action status for those who attended other delayed shows, including Madonna's concerts in New York on Dec. 14 and Dec. 16.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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