A new Dolce & Gabbana campaign featuring Madonna has stirred major backlash, with critics slamming the 67-year-old star’s provocative poses with younger men.
On Thursday, January 8, the luxury Italian brand released the full global campaign, including a commercial film and print advertisements featuring the Queen of Pop in the female lead role.
However, critics blasted the new ad, accusing the singer of having “lost self-respect” and creating “granny p*rn,” while others speculated about her facial features, reigniting whispers of cosmetic procedures.
“Oh my gosh she is disgusting in every way!” reacted one social media user.
The seven-time Grammy winner took part in the campaign celebrating the 20th anniversary of Dolce & Gabbana’s iconic The One fragrance line
The campaign, marking the brand’s milestone 20th anniversary, starred Madonna in an advert introducing two new scents, The One Eau de Parfum Intense and The One for Men Parfum.
She appeared in the jaw-dropping commercial alongside Cuban actor Alberto Guerra and a younger male model.
Filmed by fashion photographer Mert Alas, the campaign channeled the allure of 1970s Italian cinema through a sensual, cinematic short film.
In the clip, Madonna wore a black minidress accentuating her cleavage as she was flanked by her two male co-stars.
At one point, the Material Girl singer was seen lustfully gazing at one of the young man’s privates, while in another scene, she seductively sat on the floor sketching him as he stood before her, completely unclothed.
Madonna appeared in a steamy short film as part of the campaign, dressed in racy lace lingerie and sharing the screen with two younger men in bed
The trio then moved into a dimly lit bedroom for an intimate scene involving blindfolds, suspenders, and the singer in lacy lingerie.
In another notable sequence, Madonna hopped into bed and lay in an embrace with Alberto Guerra.
While the 67-year-old Grammy winner has long been known for her provocative style and boundary-pushing visuals with younger men, some critics, in light of this, slammed the new campaign as “boring” and labelled her “desperate to stay relevant.”
One person wrote, “Please stop grossing us out!”
Another commented, “At her age shouldn’t she be advertising something like Yardley Lavender?”
“It’s her once again with young male models being s*xy. I would like something different just for a change. Not complaining though,” expressed a third.
Netizens bluntly called the 67-year-old singer a “grandma” seeking attention and “desperate to stay relevant”
The same user doubled down, writing, “It’s something that we’ve seen a lot of times and since she is known for reinventing herself, I would like to see something different.”
Others responded to the comment, saying, “Madonna being pawed on by men while rolling around in her underwear is her default. She’s been doing it for over 40 years. It’s a lot more interesting when she does something avant garde or weird.”
“I really want to see something new and more daring coming from Madonna, I like the song and how she looks, but the ad is a little boring.”
Many fans of the pop icon also compared her blonde layered hair and makeup in the campaign to her 1990s Bad Girl era.
However, her new look also reignited plastic surgery rumors, with one viewer commenting, “Her face looks less wide like her surgeon fixed her cheek volume near the orbital and temple areas, used to look disproportionately wide [earlier].”
Romancing younger men in visual art is nothing new for Madonna, as she is also dating 29-year-old Akeem Morris in her personal life
“Put it away grandma, nothing s*xy about an OAP in underwear, and yes I’m in my sixties I would never do that!”
For the commercial, Madonna also recorded a special cover of the 1968 Italian pop classic La Bambola by Patty Pravo, marking the first time she has sung a song in Italian.
The track has since been released on streaming platforms.
The campaign also continues Madonna’s decades-long friendship and creative partnership with designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.
Her relationship with the brand dates back to the early 1990s, when the duo designed tour costumes for her 1993 The Girlie Show.
They reportedly created more than 1,500 costumes for the singer and her dancers, including iconic pieces such as pointed-cup br*s, structured corsets, and crystal-embellished leotards.
Madonna’s on-screen chemistry with younger men also mirrors her real life, as she is currently dating 29-year-old soccer coach Akeem Morris.
“Nothing new, repetitive style, ruined a mythical song, inappropriate. D&G and Madonna in this version are old,” one netizen wrote
