For those of us that tuned into the 2018 MTV VMAS, you already know the catastrophe that happened toward the end of the show. But for those of you that missed the “special” moment, here’s a quick summary of the Madonna…I mean Aretha Franklin Tribute last night at the #VMAS.
Madonna made an appearance at the annual awards show to present the Video Of The Year Award, as well as pay tribute to the legendary, #ArethaFranklin, after her sudden passing from pancreatic cancer last week. With the entertainment world still grieving, this tribute was what many were awaiting and what #MTV thought would be one of the biggest highlights of the show. It did at least begin well. #Madonna started by stating Franklin, “changed the course of my life.” However, that was only one of two times Franklin was mentioned during her speech. The rest was a mini auto-biography of Madonna’s humble music career beginnings.
“After years of struggling and being broke, I decided to go to auditions for musical theater. I heard the pay was better. I had no training or dreams of ever becoming a singer, but I went for it. I got cut, and rejected from every audition,” Madonna continued. “Then, one day, a French disco sensation was looking for backup singers and dancers for his world tour. I thought, ‘Why not?’ The worst that can happen is I could go back to getting robbed, held at gunpoint and being mistaken for a prostitute in my third-floor walk-up that was also a crack house.” And that’s just a small bit of the speech.
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Once she was finally done ranting about herself, she ended by saying Franklin “led me to where I am today,” and went on to say, “I want to thank you, Aretha, for empowering all of us. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Long live the queen.”
She wasn’t exactly finished after that statement; she insisted on telling the audience about her wardrobe malfunction at the first ever VMAS in 1984. Then after that, when she was completely done ranting, she presented the Video Of The Year Award to #CamillaCabello. By that time, Twitter was blowing up with disdain for not only Madonna’s speech but also for MTV’s decision to choose Madonna to honor Aretha in the first place.
In the hours since the live telecast of the VMAS, Madonna made a statement via Instagram regarding the backlash she has received. She posted a photo to her Instagram profile with Video of The Year winner Camila Cabello and explained in the caption that her speech was not intended to be a tribute to Franklin. “I could never do her justice in this context or environment,” she wrote.
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