In light of her new world tour which includes Madonna surfboarding on a black woman and a "gypsy" themed section, the time has come to go over some of Madonna's most racist, culturally appropriative and insensitive moments.
Ignoring the apologetic portayal of the supposed "Queen of Pop" by the mainstream media, this ONTD Original is supposed to serve as a reminder of what Madonna truly is and how she got away with it all.
Despite what most people believe, Madonna has been racist and downright unapologetic about her racism (no pun intended) for 25+ years.
So here are some of Madonna's most racist moments:
- Madonna did a photoshoot in blackface and doesn't get what's wrong with it.
In one of her Rolling Stone interviews, Madonna admitted that she did a whole photoshoot in blackface for her 2008 Hard Candy album, which was heavily inspired by r’n’b music and was produced by Pharrell Williams and Timbaland. She wanted to call the album "Black Madonna".
"I did a photo shoot with Steven Klein for my last album cover, and I painted my face black, except for red lips and white eyes. It was a play on words. Have you ever heard of the Black Madonna? It has layers of meaning, and for a minute, I thought it would be a fun title for my record. Then I thought, 'Twenty-five percent of the world might get this, probably less. It's not worth it.' It happens all the time, because my references are usually off the Richter scale. That's why I have people like Guy [Oseary, her manager] in my life who look at me and go, 'No, you are not doing that.'", she said.
Madonna says her manager put a stop to the publication of the said photoshoot, complaining that people “wouldn’t get” her blackface. Later on, the same photographer used the same concept (pictured above) for a photoshoot that caused controversy.
- Madonna used the N-word.
Last year, Madonna took to Instagram to post a picture of her son Rocco and hastagged the picture with the racist slur.
When shit hit the fan and people started to call her out for it, Madonna did something most media outlets didn’t report on. She didn’t apologize until a day later when her PR team took over. Before that, she was being vile on Instagram and attacking people for calling her out for the use of the N-word.
„Ok let me start this again. #get off my dick haters!“, she said.
Days after the scandal, Madonna brought her son David to The Grammy Red Carpet. This has never happened before or after this scandal:
- Madonna called Barrack Obama a 'black muslim'
During her MDNA World Tour in 2012, Madonna showed her ignorance by calling President Obama a ‘black muslim’.
“For better or for worse, all right, we have a black Muslim in the White House, OK? Now that is some shit. That's some amazing shit.," she preached to her fans.
- Madonna believes all black men are inherently sexist.
Despite being tied up to a chair and beaten up by white man, Madonna believes black men are the ones who disrespected her the most. She says that her black partners disrespect women because it’s a “cultural thing” for them to hate on women because black men grew up without fathers.
Yes, she really said this.
“I’ve always in this naive way identified with other minorities because I’m in a minority. You think that somehow unifies you in some philosophical way. But ultimately it doesn’t. Because I’ve found that being a strong female is actually more frightening to the black men that I’ve dated. It took me a really long time to accept that. I believe that I have never been treated more disrespectfully as a woman than by the black men that I’ve dated. I’ve never actually said that to anybody, but it’s true and I think it’s a cultural thing. So many black men grow up without fathers, without strong male figures, without a sense of romance and seeing a man treat a woman with respect.“– Madonna, Spin Magazine, 1998
![]()
- Madonna believes all black women are inherently submissive.
In the same interview, Madonna messily tries to explain the reasons why black women are „more willing“ to accept abuse from a black man.
„I think black men have just been shit on for so long, that, in a way, black women are maybe more willing to accept rage from a black man, because they see what’s happened to them. They grew up without fathers…“
Yikes!
![]()
- Madonna faked a charity in Malawi and wasted $3.8 million dollars on “salaries, cars, office space and golf course membership, free housing and a car and driver for the school’s director”.
Despite using it for several photo-ops and preaching about an educational crisis in Malawi, Madonna didn’t care that the same charity that promised to build schools squandered the money. “Raising Malawi Academy for Girls“ wasn't built and the money was instead spent by the 'charity' managers connected to the shady Kabbalah Centre.
Even worse, this 'charity' left Malawi villagers broke and homeless after taking the land for the supposed 'school' (which wasn't built) and never properly compensating them for the land.
![]()
- Madonna defiled a Martin Luther King picture to promote her #RebelHeart album.
The cover of Rebel Heart features a close-up of Madonna's face wrapped in a BDSM-alluding tangle of black cord. Then, she she Instagrammed images of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Bob Marley, seemingly oblivious to the concept that a white artist who's made various forms of black music throughout her career showing images of civil rights icons tied up in cord is demeaning.
- Madonna surfboards on a black woman on her new tour.
During yesterday's lukewarm opening of Madonna's new Rebel Heart Tour, Madonna performed one of her new songs on a stripping pole cross. The problematic part? She uses a black woman as a surfboard to stand on while she spins around the pole.
Following several accousations of racism during her Rebel Heart promo blitz, the Rebel Heart Tour kicked of in a small arena in Montereal to an unenthusiastic reaction.Madonna's first show - like many others - wasn't sold out.
Following several accousations of racism during her Rebel Heart promo blitz, the Rebel Heart Tour kicked of in a small arena in Montereal to an unenthusiastic reaction.Madonna's first show - like many others - wasn't sold out.
- Madonna still believes she is more disenfranchised than the black community.
In her recent interview with Out Magazine, Madonna once again compared different disenfranchised groups like it’s a competition. She concluded her thoughts by saying that all other groups have gotten some rights, while she, as a white woman, still has it worst.
"It’s moved along for the gay community, for the African-American community, but women are still just trading on their ass. To me, the last great frontier is women." – Madonna, Out Magazine, 2005.
- Bonus moments of Madonna appropriating different cultures:
Madonna appropriating the niqab
Madonna appropriating the geisha imagery
Madonna appropriating the sari
![]()
Madonna's appropriation of the kimono
![]()
Madonna's appropriation of the bindi/henna
Madonna's appropriation of the kimono
Madonna's appropriation of the bindi/henna
