Madonna Faces Backlash For Aretha Franklin Tribute At The MTV VMAs

Mike Wass | August 21, 2018 12:42 pm
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Another day, another backlash for Madonna. The Queen of Pop has come under fire for her tribute to Aretha Franklin at the 2018 MTV VMAs. The 60-year-old, who was dressed in traditional Berber garb from Morocco, delivered a rambling speech full of anecdotes about her own life. Including being mistaken for a prostitute in the ’80s and living in a crackhouse. I’m sure she meant well, but the tribute came off as self-indulgent and clearly missed the mark given the outpouring of dissatisfaction on social media.

Surely, most of the blame lies with MTV. It was their job to find the appropriate way to tribute Aretha and that involves finding someone with a deep personal or professional connection. Meanwhile, the only thing Madonna has in common with the Queen of Soul is the fact that they both hail from Detroit. If nothing else, it’s kind of heartening that Madonna is still as controversial as ever — 40 years into her career. Let’s just hope the Grammys do a better job of honoring Aretha in February. See an assortment of tweets below.

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