Madonna Keeps Finding New Ways to Provoke

Throughout her four decades in the spotlight, Madonna has danced in front of burning crosses, simulated masturbation onstage, pissed off PepsiCo and the Vatican, released a coffee-table book of soft-core porn, debatably encouraged teen pregnancy, eroticized her own navel, crucified herself on tour, asked David Letterman to smell her underwear, had three music videos banned from MTV, made out with Drake, made out with Britney, worn grills, called COVID-19 “the great equalizer,” and been personally banned from Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. One hundred minutes into her two-hour set at London’s O2 arena, she declared, “I think the most controversial thing I’ve ever done is to stick around,” pronouncing the word — con-tro-vers-see-al — like one of Hitchcock’s icy blondes.