Madonna has issued a statement after being body-shamed following a New Year’s performance.
On 1 January moments after the clock struck midnight, Madonna performed a surprise set at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City.
Photos quickly emerged of the singer at the bar, where she spoke to the audience about the importance of standing up to “discrimination, hatred and, worst of all, indifference”.
Unsurprisingly, Internet trolls soon began criticising the singer’s appearance, with some questioning whether she’s had cosmetic surgery on her behind.
“She has destroyed herself. I’m so embarrassed for her...” one person tweeted.
“Lord, what in the world did Madonna do to her behind???” another person commented.
Madonna has since responded to the criticism that she’s received, making it abundantly clear that what she does or doesn’t do to her body is nobody else’s business.
The singer posted a selfie or herself on Twitter and Instagram with an accompanying caption that highlights the agency that she has over her body.
“Desperately seeking no one’s approval,” she wrote, in reference to the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan that she starred in alongside Rosanna Arquette.
“And entitled to free agency over my body like everyone else!!”
She went on to express her excitement over the year ahead, before including the hashtags “#respect”, “#nofear” and “#nodiscrimination” at the end of the caption.
Madonna is no stranger to body-shaming, having received insulting comments in the past over her toned physique.
In 2008, an article published in TMZ stated that she has ”monstrously sculpted and bloodcurdling veiny corpse arms.”
Nonetheless, the 60-year-old has prevailed for decades as a fitness icon, inspiring scores of women to embrace their bodies.
“I think it’s funny how we promote strength and female empowerment yet in the particular era Madonna was most famous, it wasn’t the fashion to be muscular,” 23-year-old dancer and personal trainer Amie Barlow toldThe Independent.
“It just goes to show that society can determine what we find attractive and aesthetically pleasing!”
