When Madonna stepped onto the stage to announce Sam Smith and trans artist Kim Petra’s “best pop duo/group performance” award at the 2023 Grammys, it wasn’t her outfit or something she said that overshadowed the pair’s groundbreaking win —it was the “Vogue” singer’s face.
While Smith is the first nonbinary artist to win in this category, and Petra the first transgender artist, within seconds, the internet erupted with fans discussing Madonna’s alleged plastic surgery.
On Twitter, many proclaimed the ‘Queen of Pop’ was “unrecognizable” and had an entirely “new face.”
One user even went as far as to say that it wasn’t the singing legend at all up on stage; it was in fact, a clone.
For her part, the Sex author finally clapped back at fans on Tuesday in a statement on her Instagram page.
“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,” says the 64-year-old, claiming the press photographer’s “long lens distorted [her] face.”
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She continues, “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,” says Madge.
She finishes by clarifying that she will continue many more years of “subversive behavior,” “pushing boundaries,” and “standing up to the patriarchy.” The statement is accompanied by a video of the singer with various celebrities, each, flipping the camera the bird.
Finally, Madonna aptly tells trolls to “bow down b**ches.”
She also posted a separate cryptic statement on Twitter, sharing that the world is “threatened by [her] power and stamina.” It continues, “My intelligence and my will to survive. But they will never break me, this is all the test.”
Madonna has never commented on any alleged plastic surgery procedures, so there’s no confirmation that she’s had any work done.
The “Like a Prayer” artist recently announced a world tour that’s kicking off this summer.
