These Celebrities Apparently Aren't Big Fans Of Madonna

Pop legend Elton John has a habit of shooting his mouth off about Madonna, then apologizing afterwards. Every time he does it, though, it comes with a huge amount of vitriol. At the 2004 Q Awards he railed against Madonna being included in the Best Live Act category, saying, “Since when has lip-syncing been live? Anyone who lip-syncs in public on stage when you pay £75 to see them should be shot.”

Then, during a 2012 interview with Molly Meldrum, he complained, “Why is she such a nightmare? Sorry, her career is over. Her tour has been a disaster.” He then dropped the mic with, “And she looks like a… fairground stripper.” Yikes. By 2016 John said he and Madonna had settled their differences, but it’s probably only a matter of time before he lets his disdain for her show again.

Broadway star Patti Lupone took aim at Madonna in 2017 during an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. In a damning indictment of the pop icon’s silver-screen efforts, Lupone told the TV host, “Madonna is a movie killer. She’s dead behind the eyes. She couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag. She should not be on film or on stage.”

Lupone’s savage outburst was triggered when the conversation turned to Evita, the 1996 Madonna movie which adapted the acclaimed musical for the screen. Lupone had actually played the role of Eva Perón in the original 1979 Broadway production, and she seemed to take offence at Madonna’s portrayal. Lupone finished her verdict with, “She’s a wonderful performer for what she does, but she is not an actress.”

Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna were once the best of friends. When both American ladies were living in the U.K. with their respective English husbands Chris Martin and Guy Ritchie, the two bonded so much that Paltrow said Madonna felt like her older sister. But, sometime after Ritchie and Madonna divorced, things went south, and Paltrow threw some thinly veiled shade in an interview with Vogue magazine. 

Paltrow said in 2010, “I can be mean. I can cave into gossip. I can ice people out and I can definitely harbor revenge. In fact, I’m having a situation right now with a friend where I’m feeling pretty angry.” She then fired a direct shot when talking about her personal trainer, saying, “It’s good that she doesn’t train Madonna anymore. It was too much. She keeps people waiting – it takes up your whole day.”

If there’s anyone in music who can be counted on to deliver a vicious takedown of another pop star, it’s The Smiths frontman Morrissey. Some people love him because they believe he tells it like it is, whereas others can’t stand him because they think he deliberately seeks to shock. Either way, Madonna has been on the receiving end of his distaste on a few occasions.

In a 1986 interview with NME magazine, the acid-tongued singer said, “Obviously Madonna reinforces everything absurd and offensive. Desperate womanhood. Madonna is closer to organized prostitution than anything else.” Then in 2015 he railed against her performance at the Brit Awards, calling her “MacDonna” and complaining that her music has never given any insight into British life. Which, to be fair, it hasn’t. Because she’s American.

On March 31, 1994, a piece of late-night talk show history was aired on CBS. Madonna’s astonishing appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman became the most censored U.S. talk show episode ever. Why? Well, it probably had something to do with Madonna saying the F-word 14 times and generally making every sexual innuendo under the sun while the stunned host tried in vain to reel her in.

In later years, any time Letterman referred to the incident, he painted it as a disaster. The Federal Communications Commission certainly received a host of complaints. Letterman witheringly told the newspaper USA Today in ’94 that a fax Madonna subsequently sent him on his birthday was her attempt at “trying to be funny about it.” But he didn’t seem overly amused. All in all, it was an interview that will live in infamy.

During a CBS interview in 1991 the Goddess of Pop Cher recounted an anecdote about inviting Madonna to her house for dinner. It hadn’t gone well. Cher said, “There’s something about her that I don’t like. She’s…mean.” She claimed Madonna was rude and didn’t behave as magnanimously as she could have, before finishing with a pretty shocking swear word aimed in the Queen of Pop’s direction.

Later that year, Cher appeared on the British TV chat show Wogan and clarified her feelings on Madonna with some super-backhanded compliments. The icon said, “She’s unbelievably creative because she’s not unbelievably talented, she’s not beautiful, but she’s kind of, she’s rude.” She added, “I do respect that she goes much farther than anyone should go, and I think that’s interesting about her that she’s willing to do whatever she wants to do.”

In 2015 Piers Morgan, known for his outspoken opinions on anything and everything, delivered a stunning takedown of Madonna for the website of British newspaper the Daily Mail. He wrote, “I’ve watched this undeniably supremely gifted woman descend into a pantomime freak, on and off stage.” He added, “Madonna is as immature as the gormless toyboys she dates and dumps with the zealotry of a pubescent teenager.”

Morgan also skewered her behavior as a mother, highlighting how she posted a photo of her 13-year-old Rocco holding a bottle of gin on Instagram. He wrote, “What sort of mother puts that kind of image into the public domain, exposing her young teenage son to public condemnation? A negligent, dumb, self-obsessed, and repulsive one. That’s what.” Don’t hold back, Piers: tell us how you really feel!

Roseanne star Sandra Bernhard and Madonna were close friends in the late ‘80s. They even made an appearance together on The Late Show with David Letterman wearing matching outfits. Bernhard told another talk show host, Wendy Williams, in 2010, “We would go out, we would have a genuinely great time, and I think we were a really good example of two women being friends.” Somewhere along the line, though, their relationship fell apart. 

While Bernhard would never confirm what happened, she did tell Williams, “I would have liked that to have gone on for a while. Certain people can’t handle those kinds of friendships. That’s not my style. I like to maintain friendships throughout my life.” While apparently the two women are cordial these days, they’re not actually friends; as Bernhard told Us Weekly magazine, “People move on, and you have your life.”

Madonna’s TV appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1990 rubbed the host up the wrong way. For some reason, it seemed like the mischievous pop princess wanted to get a reaction from Hall, so she teased him about how his ex-girlfriend Paula Abdul was now with another celebrity. She poked, “I want to know how it feels to be dumped for John Stamos, because I feel bad for you.” 

On top of this, Madonna then made fun of Hall’s haircut and inferred he and best friend Eddie Murphy were romantically involved. In 2014 Hall admitted in a video interview that any time Madonna was on his show there was a bit of tension. He then confessed, “You don’t know if this is gonna go alright, and you don’t know if she likes the host, whether she is going to cooperate.” It sounds super-stressful.

In 2019 talk show host Wendy Williams took aim at 61-year-old Madonna for dating 26-year-old Ahlamalik Williams. She said, “Here’s the thing. He is the same age as her daughter Lourdes, okay? They’re all on the same vacation, and there’s old grandma, booed up with a 26-year-old.” Wendy then lamented, “I don’t think she understands it’s okay to grow older gracefully.”

A source close to the Queen of Pop hit back to Hollywood Life magazine with, “Madonna is constantly fighting against ageism, she’s constantly getting judged for not being young enough and it’s really sad and tiresome. In Wendy’s case, it’s extra sad because she’s not much younger than Madonna. She should be supporting her fight against ageism, not tearing her down.”

Famously catty actor Rupert Everett and Madonna were good friends in the ‘90s. But, after they starred together in the 2001 flop The Next Big Thing, they seemed to go their separate ways. In 2006 Everett released his memoir Red Carpets And Other Banana Skins and took the opportunity to dish some dirt on Madonna’s marriage to Sean Penn. He also said some questionable things about Madge.

In 2021 Everett appeared on TV show Piers Morgan’s Life Stories and the host asked him why he dubbed Madonna a “whiny old barmaid” in his memoir. He also inquired about referring to her as “a curious little thing,” “Satan” and a “She-man.” Everett claimed his comments were meant to be affectionate, with the barmaid quote actually being a compliment about her voice. Um, okay.

In 2012 Madonna introduced Avicii at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. She said to the crowd at the electronic dance music event, “How many people in this crowd have seen molly?” This was a reference to MDMA, a drug strongly associated with EDM music. The crowd cheered her, but one person wasn’t happy with her comment: EDM kingpin Deadmau5.

You see, Deadmau5 has railed against the idea he makes music for people who take drugs to enjoy it. He also refuses to take drugs himself and wants to rid the genre of these negative associations. He told Rolling Stone magazine, “You want to be ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ and ‘funky grandma’? Fine. It’s not my place to say you’re irrelevant,” before adding, “If you’re gonna come into my world, at least do it with a little more dignity.”

Music icon Joni Mitchell made some pretty damning comments about Madonna in a 1991 Rolling Stone interview. She spoke of how music at that time had become “burlesque,” lamenting that, “Every generation has to be more shocking than the last.” Playing devil’s advocate, the interviewer then argued Madonna could be seen as a feminist icon, using her sexuality for her own benefit rather than being manipulated by a man. 

“That’s an interesting idea, but what’s the difference between her and a hard hooker, you know?” an unsure Mitchell responded. “Who’s being exploited there?” She then clarified her issue by saying, “There’s always been that type of female. There’s always been a market for it, but the danger is that she thinks she’s a role model. And it’s a terrible role model. It’s death to all things real.” Whoa.

Erin and Sara Foster, the stars of the reality show spoof Barely Famous, are the daughters of music producer David Foster. In 2015 they revealed Madonna came over to their dad’s house in L.A. when they were children. An excited Erin laughed about how she tried to impress the pop icon by copying an outfit she had worn to an awards bash.

“I tried to recreate the look so when she would see me, she’d think, ‘Oh, you’re really cool!’” continued Erin. Unfortunately, Madonna had no time for the girls at all. Sara said, “She was not impressed. She was like, ‘What are these kids doing here?’” Erin agreed, “She wanted nothing to do with us.” All in all, snubbing a couple of young fans like that isn’t a great look for a pop star.

This particular feud was started by Madonna in 1996 during a Spin magazine interview. While talking about how America doesn’t respect true “art” and the people who make it, Madonna accused Carey of producing material that was overly “sanitized” and played things too safe. She then responded to the interviewer asking her if she ever wanted to sing, “silly pop songs” like Carey with a savage, “I’d kill myself.”

Carey wasn’t one to take this lying down, though. She told TV show MTV News in ’96, “I really haven’t paid attention to Madonna since I was in, like, seventh or eighth grade, when she used to be popular. So, I didn’t hear that.” Two years later she threw more age-related shade when she said she hadn’t heard Madonna’s new album, and added, “Growing up, I liked her first album a lot.” Dang!

A 2006 Channel 4 TV documentary entitled The Madness of Boy George featured the singer venting about celebrities. He reserved a lot of venom for Madonna, saying, “I just think she’s a vile, hideous human being with no redeeming qualities. There’s nothing nice about her.” The controversial star then added, “Vile, full of herself – so unspiritual. How has this woman got away with it for so long?”

All the same, while this may seem a definitive statement of hatred, in 2021 the Culture Club singer walked back his comments. When talk show host Jonathan Ross asked him about his damning verdict, he replied, “It’s not something I would say now. It’s really just…I’m actually a bit embarrassed I said that. Madonna...she fascinates me. I love Madonna.” You’ve got a funny way of showing it, George.

The first confirmation of Janet Jackson disliking Madonna came during a 1994 interview with Vibe magazine. When asked if she hated the Queen of Pop, Janet said, “I never said ‘hate.’ Hate is a strong word. But if I did hate, I’d have valid reasons.” On another occasion, when Madonna’s music was compared to hers, Janet replied, “I think – how do I put this? I think what I do has class to it. I’ll say that.”

In 2011 a possible reason was put forward for the origin of Janet’s dislike. Jermaine Jackson wrote in his memoir that their brother Michael had dated Madonna for a period before realizing they weren’t compatible. But, on one dinner date, Madonna made the huge mistake of criticizing his beloved sister Janet to Michael’s face. He was not amused. Perhaps Madonna’s words got back to Janet?

Mark Wahlberg’s beef with Madonna stretches right back to 1993, when he was still known as the rapper Marky Mark. They and their people allegedly got into a scuffle at a Hollywood birthday party held by talent manager Gerry Harrington. Madonna’s PR people placed full blame on Wahlberg for the incident, claiming he had aimed a homophobic insult at a member of Madonna’s entourage.

Another source at the party said it was Madonna who started things, though, claiming she was angry that Wahlberg had been disparaging her to the press. The two stars then supposedly threw a series of sexual insults at each other. Depending on who you want to believe, Wahlberg supposedly went on to break the nose of Guy Oseary, a talent scout at Madonna’s Maverick Productions. Geez.

This entry may need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but in October 2008 British tabloid newspaper the Daily Mirror obtained some quotes allegedly uttered by Guy Ritchie shortly after it was announced he and Madonna were divorcing. The aggrieved director supposedly told his friends, “She’s obsessed with her own public image, obsessed with being seen as some kind of global soothsayer. It’s silly; she’s a pop star.”

Ritchie also allegedly said, “I just wanted a regular husband-and-wife thing – not least for the sake of the kids. But it was always a great song and dance just to do ordinary stuff.” He supposedly added, “I want to be able to go about my business and live my life without all the hoopla. Unfortunately, she can’t live without all the hoopla. Our marriage was a three-ring circus in the end.”

This long-running beef began in 2012 when Madonna accused “Born This Way” singer Lady Gaga of ripping off her hit song “Express Yourself.” She told ABC News, “I thought, this is a wonderful way to redo my song. I mean, I recognized the chord changes.” The Queen of Pop even called the song “reductive.” Ouch. In response, Gaga argued that the same chord progression had been used in disco music for the last five decades. 

Then in 2016 she told radio host Zane Lowe, “I don’t mean to disrespect Madonna. She’s a nice lady and she’s had a fantastic, huge career – biggest pop star of all time. But I play a lot of instruments. I write all my own music.” She added, “What I do is different. I’m not just rehearsing over and over again to put on a show.” Meow.