Madonna was said to have received a less-than-warm response to an abbreviated concert in Paris last Thursday, but the legendary pop star sprang to her own defense today, calling out the press for misreporting the events of that night. RELATED: Madonna's Latest Video - 'Good' or Bad? "Playing the Olympia was a magical moment for me and it was real treat to do this special show for my fans and be so close to them," Madge began in a statement posted to her website on Monday. "Unfortunately at the end of the show after I left the stage a few thugs who were not my fans rushed the stage and started throwing plastic bottles pretending to be angry fans." Upset over reports that her show ended with boos and cries of "refund!", Madonna went on to lash out at journalists who she feels tried to cast her in a negative light. RELATED: Madonna's New Album Sets Bad Record "The press reports have focused on this and not the joyous aspect of the even...

Madonna performs live at The NIA in Birmingham on July 19, 2012. UPI/Paul Treadway License photo PARIS, July 31 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star Madonna says her recent concert at the Olympia theater in Paris was a "magical moment" and those who booed her there were "a few thugs." The singer made headlines July 26 when some audience members turned on her, demanding their money back and calling her a "slut" after she wrapped up her show after 45 minutes. The concert was added to her tour schedule last week and sold out in hours. Tickets sold for between $99 and $345 for the limited seats. Although some concertgoers groused about the price of the tickets given the length of the show, Madonna posted a statement on her official Web site Monday offering her point of view. "Playing the Olympia was a magical moment for me and it was real treat to do this special show for my fans and be so close to them. Unfortunately, at the end of the show -- after I left the stage...

Madonna was said to have received a less-than-warm response to an abbreviated concert in Paris last Thursday, but the legendary pop star sprang to her own defense today, calling out the press for misreporting the events of that night. RELATED: Madonna's Latest Video - 'Good' or Bad? "Playing the Olympia was a magical moment for me and it was real treat to do this special show for my fans and be so close to them," Madge began in a statement posted to her website on Monday. "Unfortunately at the end of the show after I left the stage a few thugs who were not my fans rushed the stage and started throwing plastic bottles pretending to be angry fans." Upset over reports that her show ended with boos and cries of "refund!", Madonna went on to lash out at journalists who she feels tried to cast her in a negative light. RELATED: Madonna's New Album Sets Bad Record "The press reports have focused on this and not the joyous aspect of the even...

Madonna 's MDNA Tour continues to post big numbers, as the trek's gross rises to an overall $79.6 million from 22 reported shows. On the most recent Hot Tours chart, she ranks No. 1 with ticket sales totals reported from four sold out concerts during her tour through European markets this summer. Her first MDNA Tour appearance in France was on July 14 at the Stade De France in Paris with 62,195 fans in attendance. The $7.1 million (US$) gross at the national stadium of France is the largest single-show ticket sales total reported from the tour so far. Following the Paris concert, the tour crossed the channel for its first date in the U.K., a performance at London's Hyde Park. With a crowd topping 54,000, the concert on July 17 grossed 4.2 million ($6.7 million US$) and also featured LMFAO in a supporting slot. Concerts followed at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on July 19 and Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on July 21. Madonna Booed at 45-Minute Paris Sh...

Madonna has addressed reports she was booed and pelted with bottles at a performance in France on Thursday, blaming the ruckus on "thugs" who rushed the stage to cause mayhem. The singer put on an intimate show for around 2000 fans at the Paris Olympia venue as a last minute addition to her MDNA world tour. The concert lasted just 45 minutes, much shorter than previous dates on the trek, and crowd members angry about the short set jeered the Material Girl and hurled bottles at the stage. Now Madonna has taken to her official website to explain the incident. "Playing the Olympia was a magical moment for me and it was real treat to do this special show for my fans and be so close to them," she writes. "Unfortunately at the end of the show - after I left the stage - a few thugs who were not my fans rushed the stage and started throwing plastic bottles pretending to be angry fans. "The press reports have focused on this and not the joyous aspect of the evening...

Madonna s latest album, MDNA, hasnt done so well. And people who went to see her gig in Hyde Park were a bit disappointed with the performance too quiet, and heavy on the new singles instead of the time-honoured, bona fide hits. Thats why we thought her fans booed her after a 45-minute set in Paris at the weekend. But, according to Madonna herself, the reason the fans booed her is because they werent fans at all. It sounds pretty paranoid, but she wrote on her website: Playing the Olympia was a magical moment for me and it was real treat to do this special show for my fans and be so close to them." "Unfortunately at the end of the show - after I left the stage - a few thugs who were not my fans rushed the stage and started throwing plastic bottles pretending to be angry fans Were not sure why anyone would pay money to go to a concert so they could pretend to be Madonna s fans and then throw bottles at her especially when tickets to see her are so damn expensive. One theory...

Guy Oseary / AP Madonna performs in Paris. By Rebecca Leffler, The Hollywood Reporter Madonna has finally shed a ray of light on controversy surrounding her recent concert in Paris that saw outraged fans screaming refund last Thursday. Right-wing French politician tells Madonna to pay $1 million over controversial video The live concert at Paris Olympia concert venue, scheduled as an unexpected extra stop on the singers "MDNA" tour, lasted for just 45 minutes, much to the dismay of fans camped outside for hours and days before the show and the thousands of people watching the concert live on YouTube. However, according to Madonnas spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg, the Material Girls last-minute concert wasnt meant to be a full show, but rather one of a handful of club dates that, in the past, were never more than 45 minutes. PHOTOS: Madonna: Iconic career and life in pictures Rosenberg said that, rather than being a snub to French audiences, the show was her way to honor her love fo...

PARIS (AP) A small Madonna concert that the pop star said was intended to celebrate France 's tolerance instead tested it, drawing boos and cries of 'refund!' when she left the stage after just 45 minutes. The show Thursday, billed as an intimate event at Paris ' Olympia club, was streamed live on YouTube . By Friday morning, the channel that showed the event disabled comments and had more than 12,000 dislikes compared with 10,000 likes. An invitation to tweet about the show appeared to backfire audience members used the suggested hashtag (hash)MDNAParis to complain. The concert was announced after France's far-right National Front threatened to sue Madonna after the singer showed a video at a Bastille Day concert in Paris with an image of the party's leader with a swastika on her forehead.

Madonna was on the receiving end of an angry backlash from her fans on Friday for ending a Paris concert after just 45 minutes. With the Internet awash with criticism of the US pop queen, tweets posted by disappointed fans included: "Madonna branded a slut and booed in Paris," and "Only 45 minutes for 200 euros a ticket." The angry reaction was in sharp contrast to the enthusiastic cheers which greeted Madonna when she exited the stage at the Olympia theatre after barely three quarters of an hour on Thursday evening. The 2,700-strong audience remained in place, expecting an encore, and the mood turned sour as it became clear that the 53-year-old diva was not coming back. Videos posted on YouTube showed angry fans shouting "refund". "Not even 10 songs, no thank you and no goodbye," one spectator told AFP. "We came up from Montpellier (in the south of France) and paid 180 euros a ticket. It's a bit steep." The Olympia concert was Ma...

PARIS (AP) A small Madonna concert that the pop star said was intended to celebrate France 's tolerance instead tested it, drawing boos and cries of 'refund!' when she left the stage after just 45 minutes. The show Thursday, billed as an intimate event at Paris ' Olympia club, was streamed live on YouTube . By Friday morning, the channel that showed the event disabled comments and had more than 12,000 dislikes compared with 10,000 likes. An invitation to tweet about the show appeared to backfire audience members used the suggested hashtag (hash)MDNAParis to complain. The concert was announced after France's far-right National Front threatened to sue Madonna after the singer showed a video at a Bastille Day concert in Paris with an image of the party's leader with a swastika on her forehead.

US pop queen Madonna praised France for its tolerance and welcoming attitude to minorities and said she knew far-right leader Marine Le Pen was "very angry with me" over a provocative video. "I know that I have made a certain Marine Le Pen very angry with me. It's not my intention to make enemies," Madonna told 2,700 fans at a sell-out concert at the Olympia hall in Paris on Thursday. France's far-right National Front said earlier this month it would sue the singer over a video at an earlier Paris concert showing party leader Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead. The video, which served as a backdrop for Madonna's performance of the song "Nobody Knows Me," flashed a picture of Le Pen's forehead superimposed with a swastika, followed by an image resembling Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Madonna went on to praise France for its tolerance and the welcome it had extended to black entertainers. "Before the civil rights in America, African Amer...

PARIS (Reuters) - Pop star Madonna treated fans to an intimate show at Paris ' famed Olympia theatre on Thursday, voicing her love for a France that is open to minorities and artists and reinterpreting "Je t'aime moi non plus," a song laced with sexual innuendo. Tickets for the surprise show - a last-minute addition to Madonna's "MDNA" tour - were offered first to members of her fan club and sold out within minutes. Some people began gathering outside the Olympia as early as Wednesday for the show, and anticipation was running high. In the end, reaction was mixed and some in the audience voiced disappointment at the show's length, a mere 45 minutes. A few called for refunds as they left the 2,700-seat theatre, Paris' oldest surviving music hall which has welcomed iconic stars from Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel to the Rolling Stones. The concert was expected to have a political overtone to it, and Madonna started off on a rebellious note. "I...

Samir Hussein/Redferns via Getty Images In poor taste? Perhaps. But illegal? Hardly. Reports surfaced that, in the wake of The Dark Knight Rises tragedy, police had pleaded with Madonna to remove choreographed gun play from her MDNA tour, though when she performed at the Murrayfield Stadium gig in Edinburgh, Scotland she brandished her toy pistols and AK-47s per ususal. But police say she isn't in any legal hot water. As for the swastikas in her show? The Material Girl has some explaining to do. READ: Madonna Breaks Down Crying During "Like a Virgin" Performance Edinburgh's Lothian and Borders Police tells E! News that yhey can confirm they met with the promoters of Madonna's concert, as they do with every promoter prior to such an event: "Media reports which said police had advised her not to include firearms and weapons during her performance were incorrect. In fact the event Commander, Superintendant Craig Naylor, said that the props used by Madonna we...

25 July 2012 Last updated at 11:34 ET The video image in question has appeared in previous shows of the world tour Madonna has spoken about an image used during her current MDNA tour which showed a swastika imposed onto the face of a French politician. The controversial symbol was included in a video accompanying the song Nobody Knows Me, as she performed in Paris. It showed the face of Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's National Front party, with a swastika on her forehead. Interviewed for a Brazilian TV channel, Madonna said all images used were chosen "purposefully". "That film that was created is about the intolerance that we human beings have for one another and how much we judge people before knowing them," she said. France's National Front party (FN) said it planned to sue the US singer following the use of the image at her concert in the Stade de France on 14 July. The video had already appeared earlier in Madonna's 30-nation MDNA world tou...

Madonna and 15 members of her entourage, including her 24-year-old boyfriend, Brahim Zaibat, a French breakdancer, attended a performance of Cantina at the Southbank Centre in London this week. Peer boils over Hot weather in Westminster appears to have left those few Parliamentarians still around bad tempered. Why is it that researchers when Commons not sitting have to dress as if on a bucket and spade holiday? demands the Earl of Courtown, who is one of the 92 hereditary peers to survive Tony Blairs cull of the House of Lords in 1999. Michael Ball is cabaret star Turning 50 was a surprisingly enjoyable experience for Michael Ball, who was invited to Ronnie Scotts jazz club by Imelda Staunton, his co-star in the West End musical Sweeney Todd . I thought I was just going to dinner with Imelda, he tells Mandrake . I thought, 'Well there is no bloody atmosphere in here tonight, then the curtain opened and there they all were. They put a cabaret on for me that they had written especia...

Madonna just wouldn't be Madonna if she didn't consistently stir up the world's inner passions. As such, she's come under fire (very bad pun intended) for brandishing fake guns during a recent performance in Scotland. In light of the tragedy in Aurora, Colo., her timing couldn't be worse. Not one for compromising her art, the "Human Nature" singer is notorious for standing her ground with regard to the images she presents to the world. In fact, one could say that controversy is a significant part of her overall brand. Judge for yourself It all began so "innocently" The music industry quickly figured out what kind of artist it had on its hands once " Like a Virgin " hit the streets. The song featured the cooing songstress piling on tons of naughty innuendos. In 1984, sexually brazen young women still weren't widely accepted by the public. In short, mothers of young girls everywhere cringed when this song was released. Putting the ic...

Madonna has explained a segment of her 'MDNA' stage show which incorporates a swastika and other controversial imagery. The singer attracted attention for the sequence , where the Nazi iconography was superimposed on the face of National Front leader Marine Le Pen, when it was first aired in Israel. It was later suggested that the right wing party may sue Madonna after she repeated the broadcast during her show in Paris. Asked by Brazilian network Globo what the whole sequence was about, Madonna said: "The intolerance that we human beings have for one another. "And how much we judge people before knowing them. That's why it's done in the song 'Nobody Knows Me'." Watch the Madonna 'Nobody Knows Me' 'MDNA' tour backdrop in full below: On whether intolerance has increased in recent years, she replied: "I think that in some respects, things are better. "Gay marriages are accepted in different parts of the United States and...

Madonna performing at Hyde Park in London last week. (Ian Gavan/Getty Images) As she has at several stops on her world tour, Madonna waved fake machine guns and pistols Saturday during her Scottish concert despite news of the Colorado shootings and requests from Edinburgh police not to perform with the props. But bad taste is not a crime; no charges will be filed, reports UKs Daily Record .

Return to video Video settings Please Log in to update your video settings Video will begin in 5 seconds. Return to video Video settings Please Log in to update your video settings Colorado shooter an 'aspiring researcher' Video has emerged of alleged Colorado shooter, James Holmes nervously presenting a project at a science camp six years ago. Autoplay On Off Video feedback Video settings Madonna ignored pleas to tone down her MDNA show at a concert in Scotland and brandished a machine gun and pistol onstage. Police officials advised the pop superstar not to include images of firearms and weapons themselves during the Murrayfield Stadium gig in Edinburgh in the wake of the Colorado cinema massacre on Friday morning. But she defied the local authorities and hit the stage with pistols and an AK47 assault rifle - as she has at all the shows on her MDNA tour. "Madonna and her dancers using replica guns was always in bad taste but given what happened in Colorado it is even ...

Return to video Video settings Please Log in to update your video settings Video will begin in 5 seconds. Return to video Video settings Please Log in to update your video settings Colorado shooter an 'aspiring researcher' Video has emerged of alleged Colorado shooter, James Holmes nervously presenting a project at a science camp six years ago. Autoplay On Off Video feedback Video settings Madonna ignored pleas to tone down her MDNA show at a concert in Scotland and brandished a machine gun and pistol onstage. Police officials advised the pop superstar not to include images of firearms and weapons themselves during the Murrayfield Stadium gig in Edinburgh in the wake of the Colorado cinema massacre on Friday morning. But she defied the local authorities and hit the stage with pistols and an AK...

The unendingly controversial Madonna is making headlines yet again in what is starting to feel like cultivated bad behavior. The Queen of Pop is under fire for going ahead with a heavily armed performance at a concert in the wake of the "Dark Knight" shooting. During a performance in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday, the singer took to the stage with pistols and an AK47 in hand -- less than 48 hours after the Aurora, Colo., shooting. The massacre, which ensued during a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," resulted in the deaths of twelve people. James Holmes, the prime suspect in the violent spree, reportedly used four guns, including an AK47 type firearm, to kill his victims. Scottish police officials urged Madonna to remove the prop weapon from her act . She was also asked to be mindful of the Dumblaine Primary School Massacre in making her decision. The1996 shooting resulted in the deaths of sixteen children and one adult. But during Murrayfield Stadium...

Madonna s first concert in Scotland has received negative attention from critics as she brandished fake weapons on stage. Part of her routine on the MDNA tour includes her and her dancers holding fake pistols and rifles and pretending to use them on stage. Prior to the concert the areas police force had asked her not to include this part of her routine. The 50-year-old singer joked during the concert that the organisers might cut her off during her performance. Due to your laws here they might pull the plug on me so if they cut us off suddenly, write to your local MP The laws she was talking about related to the gun laws that were introduced about the Dunblane Massacre in 1996. Bad taste However, it was the recent shootings in Colombia, approximately only 36 hours before, that some are arguing the Queen of Pop should have respected by taking the routine out of her set. Scottish Member of Parliament, Graeme Pearson said of the routine, Its crass and insensitive and with Scotlands own g...

Madonna ignored pleas to tone down her MDNA show at a concert in Scotland on Saturday and brandished a machine gun and pistol onstage. Police officials advised the pop superstar not to include images of firearms and weapons themselves during the Murrayfield Stadium gig in Edinburgh in the wake of the Colorado cinema massacre on Friday morning. But she defied the local authorities and hit the stage with pistols and an AK47 assault rifle - as she has at all the shows on her MDNA tour. "Madonna and her dancers using replica guns was always in bad taste but given what happened in Colorado it is even worse. She should know better," a spokeswoman for the Mothers Against Guns organisation has told local newspaper the Daily Record.

MADONNA IN THE VIDEO of her song, 'Give Me Some Lovin'' from her Facebook page BLANTYRE, Malawi - US pop diva Madonna, who is worth US$650-M, has launched a new fund-raising drive to support the training of a Malawian pediatric surgeon, her charity announced Sunday. This comes two years after she abandoned a girls academy project in a cloud of alleged mismanagement. Through her US-registered charity Raising Malawi, the queen of pop has emailed hordes of her well-wishers and fans, addressing them as "Dear Friend," and asking: "Will you consider donating US$5 or more to support people like Dr. Erick Borgstein for many years the only pediatric surgeon in Malawi who are helping orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi?" Malawi, where 39 percent of the 13 million citizens are poor, has over one million orphans and vulnerable children, and less than 200 doctors, creating huge shortages in the medical syst! em. The charity said Borgstein "treats tho...

PRWeb 25 mins ago Pop legend Madonna has embarked on her 2012 World Tour. Fans will have the chance to see her perform at locations around the globe. Madonna's tour is one of the hottest performances of the summer, so Madonna tickets are in very high demand. The Queen of Pop started 2012 with an amazing performance during halftime of the Super Bowl. Over 100 million people around the world were able to enjoy her halftime show. Shortly after the Super Bowl, Madonna announced that she would be starting a world tour in 2012. The tour kicked off on May 29 in Tel Aviv, Israel . Madonna is scheduled to perform in the US and Canada beginning on August 28. Her first stop is the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. She will then delight fans at the Centre Bell in Montreal, QUE on August 30. September includes an exciting lineup with stops in Boston, Bronx, Ottawa, Toronto, Atlantic City, Chicago, Washington DC, and Vancouver BC. She will be making many other stops during the tour whic...

Madonna's custom MDNA tour lipstick is coming to a Sephora near you.Photo: Getty Images Okay, so on one hand, Madonna 's one-off Jean Paul Gaultier cage corset will probably never be available for wide public consumption. Nor will virtually ANY of her MDNA tour costumes . If you're anything like us, you've spent more than one sleepless night mourning this sad fact, clutching framed pictures of the JPG sketches in your bedroom with "Frozen" on constant repeat. Well, dry your eyes, chipmunks. According to our friends at InStyle , Madge's makeup artist Gina Brooke has teamed up with the cosmetics brand Make Up For Ever for a collaboration that will bring you that much closer to your MDNA dreams. Thanks to the Brooke x Make Up For Ever match-up, Madonna custom MDNA tour pout can be all YOURS starting August 9th! The bright red Aqua Rouge #8 lip color with extra staying power (duhhhh, this is made for wear on STAGE where there's no room for reapplica...

Madonna reportedly upset neighbours with the "music and shouting" emanating from her garden party. The 53-year-old singer put on a spectacular show in Hyde Park, London on Tuesday. At her home in Mayfair, Madonna threw an after party with good friends Stella McCartney and George Michael along with other merrymakers. Neighbours were incensed at the noise level after midnight and were compelled to phone authorities. "When officers arrived, they could clearly hear music and shouting," a source told British newspaper The Mirror. "In their opinion it was unreasonable on a weekday evening so they served a noise abatement notice on the owner of the house. "As soon as the notice was received, the volume was turned down and there were no further complaints." According to an unidentified neighbour, Madonna's party didn't end until many residents were knocked out of sleep by the ruckus. "It went on until quarter past two. It was all out in the garde...

Associated Press 11 mins ago WARSAW, Poland (AP) Organizers of a Madonna concert in the Polish capital have agreed to a request from city officials to start the show with a brief clip about the Warsaw Uprising , the 1944 revolt against Nazi rule , in a nod to war veterans. Some veterans and young Catholics have voiced anger that the Aug. 1 concert falls on the 68th anniversary of the uprising a day marked with a somber tone. The city-wide attack ended in the deaths of thousands of Poles and the destruction of the city. City officials proposed airing a clip about the revolt to allay the veterans' feelings. Ania Pietrzak, a spokeswoman for concert organizer Live Nation, said Wednesday "it is an important moment in Polish history, so we have decided to remind people of that moment." Play Video City Officials To Patrol Watering B WRTV - Indianapolis New library opens in Algiers WDSU - New Orleans Catholic youth crusade against Madonna AFP Play Video 95-year-old WWII ve...

Theo Wargo/WireImage , SIPA USA Courting controversy has been in Madonna 's bloodstream since the genesis of her career. From the iconic 1984 VMA performance of "Like a Virgin" that found her writhing seductively in a wedding dress to her much-maligned foray into soft-core with the release of the aptly named 1992 coffee table book, Sex , she's been ruffling feathers and challenging social conventions throughout her three decades as a pop idol. Lady Gaga is much newer to the game, and while nobody could accuse her of being a wallflower, she seems more inclined to get attention for wild wardrobe choices (meat dress, anyone?) and arty publicity stunts (her 2011 Grammy red carpet entrance in a giant egg comes to mind) than acts of moral provocation. And yet, it seemed deliciously inevitable that two of dance-pop's most media savvy divas would eventually butt heads. We're all for world peace, but we admit to being totally titillated by what may yet become one of t...