Never too far from controversy even as an established pop institution at age 51, Madonna was hit with a wave of boos at her concert in Bucharest, Romania.
Why? Because she stopped her concert to raise awareness about discrimination against Roma gypsies across Eastern Europe. The crowd apparently didn't take.
Madonna didn't even bat an eye amid the jeers, demanding "freedom and equal rights for everyone ... Gyspies ... homosexuals .. people who are different."
More power to her. It's all about human rights and being able to live life in peace. If a woman wants to date man, woman or child (Jesus Luz), that's a right!
Check out the video below to hear Madonna's comments and the crowd reaction. She can be heard saying "god dammit" in frustration around the 1:15 mark:
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31 Comments
August 27th, 2009 2:01 PM
WOW!!!!!!!!
August 27th, 2009 5:51 PM
What does Madonna know? Is she an authority in human rights or Romania's internal affairs? Has she ever stepped foot outside her hotel while in Bucharest? Has she ever met with people who actually live in Romania day in and day out? People did not boo because they are racist, they booed because her crass generalization was an insult. And ironically, they paid up to $270 to be insulted by this fake, superficial being who may or may not have a high school diploma, yet appears to care so much and be so very knowledgeable. MOST Romanians have nothing against the Roma population per se. Naturally, when you're transiting a Roma village by car and your windows get smashed with rocks one might feel a tad bit different. However, Romanians do not hate the Roma by default, they hate the criminals and the gangs because they affect the overall quality of life, not because of the color of their skin. I live in Romania, I know how it feels to have to deal with a drunk Roma ethnic and I also know what it feels like to deal with a drunk Romanian ethnic. The only difference is the far greater incidence of the first case. Madonna wouldn't know any of this. She is an overpaid entertainer who, like many of her species, believes that mysticism combined with activism equals undeniable cool. This is exactly what her statement was meant to bring her. Just a touch of extra-cool and a bit of media buzz. Deep down, she's still a teenage girl who wants to hang with the cool kids and in order to prove herself she has to be outrageous. Whether that comes by toning up her old body to make it look 20 or by buying an idiotic outfit and then pretending it has a deeper meaning that eludes everyone else or by getting a brand new boy toy or by exhaling wanna-be-wisdom, is less important.
Wakie-wakie, you're not in Junior High anymore, Madge. And Romania is so not the new Malawi.
August 27th, 2009 7:09 PM
I think its important to also correct something commonly misleading. The children being adopted are not poor by choice, they as well as their parents or relatives live in countries which are under developed and don't have the resources that countries like ours the USA have and provide. Its not like the children or adults chose to be poor and in poverty. I do applaud people like Angelina Jolie and Madonna now who have adopted children from various races and have given them a chance at a good life. People say all the time there are children here in the USA who need homes, true, but the children here in the USA have a better chance at living and a life regardless of the struggle they may face to get ahead than a child in a third world country. For people to boo Madonna because she made a comment about equality is ignorance on their part and anyone else who choose to not believe that everyone deserves equal rights and to be treated fairly. To the previous poster about Madonna, I don't agree with everything Madonna has done in her life, however, she is an Icon regardless if she sells albums or not, or angers someone. If you have that kind of popularity and acknowledgment there is nothing wrong with wanting to help a cause since people will tend to listen to a celebrity or public figure as oppose to some regular Joe or Jane who they ignore on a daily basis in their regular lives.
August 27th, 2009 8:09 PM
Madonna should take a lesson through this public reaction. Not everything is in black and white. She offended the romanian audience that aspires to the European values, to the western civilization principles. I totaly agree with what happened and I just hope that so widely apreciated artists as Madonna, won't make this kind of errors in the future.
To not fullfill the regular social duties, imperative for anybody in a society, yet to expect to be treated equaly it's a nonsense and is dangerous for the self existence of a state of justice. Also, ranking a statisticly delimitated group, on performance criteria doesn't seem to be an act of racism. The romanians fight to be separated from the image of the gypsy ethnic group and the term confusion (rrom, roma-in english, for gypsy) because of the reason mentioned above. It's not a question of race here, it's a question of culture. I know that the poetry of the nomad way of life attracts anybody. Also the "free from the system" life it is a permanent temptation, but, while they are made on the expense of others, they can't be socialy aproved.
In Romania nowdays, through the principle of "positive discrimination", gypsies have more civil rights than the romanian majority. Everybody agrees and complies with it. Even so, they (I meen "the majority of the gypsy ethnic group") persist in maintaining the same values that make difficult under this conditions of a normal social coexistence. For example, even after several media scandals and decades of government and public pressure, the gypsy families still mary their youths through interfamilial agreements at ages between 5 and 15.
Other example is that the romanian education system offers an amount of free of tax places at superior level of education to minorities, to study in their own language, of which the gypsies receive a big part too. The applications for these places, or for the free of tax places to study in romanian language, came from the gypsy minority are minimal.
Not to speak about infractionality, organized crime, slave traffic (I know it sounds awkward but I have 1st hand infos), drug traffic, etc. At these chapters statistic numbers makes them the most "active" ethnic group in Romania, almost equal rivals of the romanian majority, which is ten times more numerous.
What to say more? Racism, these days, became in some cases an excuse to sufficiency, crime tolerance and political failure. Decent, regular, working people are treated unfair meanwhile behind racism accusations are hiding cultural or interest groups, harmful to the sane, civilized way of life, that feed the "parasite way of life" phenomenon and that recruit, for their support, wrongly informed but influent voices, faces or characters.
August 27th, 2009 8:23 PM
Imagine that being booed for making polittical comments. Does anyone else think a Forign National that is there to perform should do that instead of being a nusiance? The US has freedom of speech but, the Bill of Rights does not extend to Americans in a Forign Country, their country, their laws. Before you jump on a soapbox and become indiginant put it in perspective that she was outside the US making inappropiate comments, no matter what you think or believe it is their country.
August 27th, 2009 10:00 PM
I saw images of the freak show on TV ...personally I don't feel any pleasure to see freaks live (not even doing their playback). It's sad that people give a damn to monkey's opinion. Romania has a very old history and the bond between people belonging to different nationalities (as we called them before globalism reinvented us and started to tell as who we are) were strong, plain and natural. Harmony relays on solving problems locally. But nomadic, migratory, chameleonic people running away from their shameful nothingness, instead of being aware of their own natural weaknesses keep on suppressing us with political correctness tolerance and many other perverse political concepts.
August 27th, 2009 10:40 PM
She was booed for hypocrisy, not for defending gypsies.
Gypsies are discriminated all over Europe, not only in Eastern Europe. In fact, in Western Europe they are subject to laws that directly targets them (see Italy), or are their rights to stay and/or work is denied, and are subject to deportations like in ww2, against any EU laws (gypsies are EU citizens). Read about what happened a couple a months ago in Belfast - where was Madonna then? She should keep these speaches for her public at home.
August 27th, 2009 11:38 PM
Madonna needs to keep her mouth shut except for what she calls singing. She's in another country where people there could care less about her opinion. Shut up!!
August 28th, 2009 2:45 AM
Way to go Madonna. I've lived in Eastern Europe and it's pretty primitive with regards to peoples feelings and opinions about race and sexual orientation (with exception of course, to the anti-fascist groups that actively strive to make positive changes). Madonna has just as much right to say something about this terrible state of affairs as anyone else. You don't have to be Romanian to be angered by the Romanian attitudes toward various minorities and groups. It's interesting how all the Romanians on here who say they have no problems with Gypsies then go on to say things that prove absolutely otherwise. I myself grew up in a very racist place and whenever one would challenge racist people on their beliefs, they would lash out with the same sense of thinly veiled indignation as the posters on this message board have displayed. Change your attitudes, realize that you're living in the 21st century and maybe performers like Madonna will get down to actually performing rather than commenting on the social status of your country when they come to town.
August 28th, 2009 3:22 AM
Calin, I so appreciate your comment. I could not have said it any better. Madonna should be left alone, with a bunch of gypsies, for as little as three days. And then she should get three days with a bunch of Romanians. Then, perhaps, she would see the evident difference between the two. It's not about racism, it's about cultural differences. Thank you all for letting your voice be heard!