Madonna's many clap backs throughout a career where she has constantly reinvented herself

Has there been a more discussed figure in the history of popular culture than Madonna? The Queen of Pop, 64, has been the subject of essays and biographies throughout her career, with as much adulation towards her being a pioneer as much as there have been criticisms that, for example, she’s “passed it.”

But the enduring career of Ms. Ciccone has always been fraught with detractors, and each time Madonna has responded with a quip or with actions that speak much louder than her words could (and do.) Or in the case of her appearance on David Letterman’s talk show, completely antagonising the host and the production team - with good reason as you read on.

Madonna’s latest pivot to reinvigorate her appeal comes as news broke that the cultural icon is rumoured to pen a deal with fashion giant PrettyLittleThing, according to the Daily Mail. The popular fashion brand, founded by Umar and Adam Kamani in 2012, already has captured the attention of younger audiences by signing up Love Island stars Molly-Mae Hague and Gemma Owen.

It’s though Madonna potentially (at the time of writing) penning a deal to be the face or collaborate with the brand that will once again give her a platform to a new generation of pop fans and fashionistas alike. Add to that she introduced the Sam Smith appearance at the Grammys, Madonna is once more aligning herself with popular, modern acts; a modus operandi of her career.

There is nothing more glorious to see though than when Madonna actively claps back to her critics and detractors; and if penning a deal with the incredibly successful fashion brand isn’t a strong enough “clap” towards those who have mocked her since the announcement of her world tour celebrating 25 years, then perhaps these classic moments in her career demonstrate through her reinvention her ability to also rise above some of the criticisms.

Grammy Award trolls

We start with a more recent clap back, this time with Madonna’s appearance at the 65th Grammy Awards earlier this month. Making her appearance to introduce Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ musical performance, the court of public opinion was more focused on the amount of work Madonna had as they did on Smith’s performance.

The relentless focus on if Madonna has had work done and that perhaps now is the time for her to call time on her career prompted the singer to call out the comments as a form of ageism. Taking to Instagram, the Queen of Pop wrote “Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim- Many people chose to only talk about Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera by a press photographer that would distort anyone’s face”

“Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working and adventurous.”

BBC Radio 1

Madonna’s “age appropriateness” was once again under the spotlight in 2015, when the musician saw her single at the time, Living for Love, not earning a place on BBC Radio 1’s playlist, despite receiving airplay on other commercial stations at the time.

The drama escalated when the Daily Mail published an article quoting a BBC Radio 1 “insider” claiming Living for Love would not be played on the station because Madonna is "irrelevant" and "old.”

That led to a flood of Madonna fans calling out the broadcaster for ageism, despite the cultural influence the singer has had on a wider range of artists that were being playlisted by the radio station. Radio 1 DJ at the time, Scott Mills, defended the BBC’s decision, saying “I don't think we play Madonna anymore. There is a lot of research, and if you ask a 17-year-old about her, they go 'don't care' [...] it's a sign of the times, things change, it's a generational thing.”

“I like Madonna, does a 17-year-old? [She's] probably not at the top of their list. And that's horrible, but that is the way it is [...] and also youth audiences are so fickle in what they like and what they don't like, and they're quite opinionated, you just have got to keep on top of that." The controversy became even more unbelievable when it was revealed that DJ and producer Diplo was involved in said track - Diplo was a BBC Radio 1 presenter at the time.

Madonna rode the wave quietly, as her fandom quite clearly stood up for the musician including those from the demographic Radio 1 said wouldn’t care about Madonna. She thanked her fans but did remark "We've made so many advances in other areas — civil rights, gay rights — but ageism is still an area that's taboo and not talked about and dealt with.”

For their part, BBC cited Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl and Sia as “older artists” that were playlisted so couldn’t possibly be ageist towards Madonna.

The Late Show with David Letterman

We venture back to Erotica era Madonna for this clap back, but it was an incredibly spectacular platform for the pop icon to send a message to her detractors. In 1994, Madonna was in a quagmire of controversy surrounding the release of her album Erotica, featuring the banned-from-MTV music video for Justify My Love, and her coffee table book simply titled Sex.

She was set to appear on Late Night with David Letterman - a talk show host with a biting wit and at the time an acerbic sense of humour. But rather than have Letterman do what Letterman does best with “problematic” guests (see: Paris Hilton’s interview with Letterman after her legal problems), Madonna instead decided to derail the entire interview.

Sat in the guest's chair smoking a large cigar, Madonna retorted to questions about her sexual activity with NBA players with a barrage of sexual innuendos and foul language, even criticising Letterman for going “soft” because of money. She ended the interview by asking Letterman if he ever smoked “endo,” at the time a modern slang for cannabis, which led Letterman to kill time by doing his best Johnny Carson impression.

Madonna revealed in an interview with Spin in 1995 the reasons for her derailment centred around the double standards regarding media censorship, a problem she found around this time regarding her creative output. “You can show a person getting blown up, and you can't say 'f**k'? It's such hypocrisy. The fact that everyone counted how many f***s I said—how small-minded is that?”

“The other thing that was ridiculous was that David Letterman knew I was going to do it. I talked to the producers of the show. Everybody was like, this will be really funny if you say "f**k" a lot they'll just keep bleeping you. Well, I came out and started doing it, and David freaked out. The way he introduced me was derogatory, so my whole thing was, okay, if that's how you want to play it, you cannot beat me at this game.”

Madonna would appear on Letterman numerous times later, showing there is no ill will towards each other, with Letterman even revealing he received a fax from the Queen of Pop on his birthday which read: “Happy F*****g Birthday Dave! Glad you could get so much mileage out of the f*****g show. Next time you need some f*****g publicity, just give me a f*****g call. Love, the anti-christ, M. xx”

50 Cent

Despite being friends when 50 Cent first blew up in the music scene, the barbs thrown between the rapper and the Queen of Pop have been pretty frequent on social media. The latest drama between the pair stems after 50 Cent reacted to a screenshot of an article in November 2022 with the headline “Madonna using rap music for clout on TikTok is pathetic and truly disturbs my spirit."

50 Cent responded to the Instagram post, commenting “I told y'all grand ma was on bulls**t! like a virgin at 64. LOL"

Madonna’s response was the posting of a story on Instagram that simply had text over her face that read “Stop Bullying Madonna For Enjoying Her Life.” The post was equal parts taking aim at the litany of online trolling (that she would endure once again after a Grammys appearance) and aspirational with Madonna extolling once again the virtues of just doing what you enjoy doing.

It’s the second time 50 Cent took to Instagram to rag on Madge; in 2021 after Madonna posted a picture of herself in lingerie laying on a bed, 50 posted “That's Madonna under the bed trying to do like a virgin at 63. she shot out, if she don't get her old as** up. LMFAO."

Madonna’s cutting response? Posting a picture of her and 50 Cent in the early ‘00s with the caption "Here is 50 Cent pretending to be my friend. Now you have decided to talk smack about me. I guess your new career is getting attention by trying to humiliate others on social media. The least elevated choice you could make as an artist and an adult."

50 Cent later apologised to Madonna, stating that “I don’t benefit from this.”