Madonna: Tabloids Accused Of Making Up Fake ‘Drunk Concert’ Clickbait Story
Madonna’s current Rebel Heart Tour requires many cues and a lot of intense timing exercises in order to succeed. So, the story about Madonna allegedly performing a show in Kentucky while drunk seems a little far fetched. Still, both TMZ and the Daily Mail had a field day accusing Madonna of being an alcoholic.
The story is that Madonna showed up three hours late and was drunk on stage, talking in a southern accent, ridiculing concert goers, etc. A video on TMZ shows Madonna having fun with the audience, joking around, and then strumming her guitar for the song “Rebel Heart.” There is no proof she was drunk and the banter that occurred may be unfunny to some, but it’s the same banter Madonna has used for just about every one of her shows. The same southern accent has jokingly been used at many other Madonna shows as well.
Actual critics at the concert have called foul play on the “Madonna is an alcoholic” meme that the tabloids are trying to create. Jeffrey Lee Pucket from Kentucky’s Courier-Journal tells the truth.
“Madonna has become international click bait after her performance Saturday night in Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center, but for all of the wrong reasons. TMZ and the Daily Mail, a gossip-based website and notorious British rag, respectively, are reporting that a drunken Madonna essentially ridiculed her audience. Neither happened.”
Pucket goes on to note that Madonna performed for two hours and 15 minutes without taking any breaks, other than to change clothes. Like others, he also notes that it was a physically demanding show that nobody who is drunk can perform. He notes that while she was lying and crawling on the stage at certain points, she has done the same things at every show she has performed over the past three decades.
“This story really shows how ridiculous some ‘journalism’ has become; they link to a video where she wishes she could do a sitting down tour so she can drink (a harmless joke), and anyone with half a brain understands the implication, that she CAN’T drink (you can’t do a show like hers drunk) and these so called ‘journalists’ show the intelligence of an amoeba and the venom of a viper,” says commenter Ade Bulla.
However, Amy Doyle thought Madonna might have had at least a little bit to drink.
“I was at the show. I did think she might be drunk towards the end, but it could have just been her shtick. I did not feel she was any ruder or offensive than I expected from her. She still put on one hell of a show!”
There was also the suggestion that Madonna showed up on stage three hours late. While being late on stage is certainly rude, Madonna started her show at around 10:20 p.m. — that’s 50 minutes past the usual 9:30 p.m. start time after her opening act. It’s not three hours late. Due to alleged technical difficulties, Madonna did the same thing at her show in Los Angeles. By the time the show was over, people certainly didn’t mind.
In any case, several on Twitter who actually attended the show in Kentucky praised Madonna for her performance.
@Madonna your performance last night was completely amazing! Look forward to tears of a clown as well as no seats in the nosebleeds!
— Taylor Ringenberg (@Marvel_Photo) January 17, 2016
Madonna continues her Rebel Heart Tour in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday before moving to Atlanta and Miami later in the week. Despite the fabricated stories, the Rebel Heart Tour has been a major success in terms of press reviews and audience attendance numbers.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
