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Madonna defends staged crucifixion
No stranger to creating controversy, veteran pop star Madonna has issued a statement addressing the in-concert, mock crucifixion that was part of her just-concluded tour.
"I am very grateful that my show was so well received all over the world," she said in a press release. "But there seems to be many misinterpretations about my appearance on the cross and I wanted to explain it myself once and for all.
"There is a segment in my show where three of my dancers 'confess' or share harrowing experiences from their childhood that they ultimately overcame. My 'confession' follows and takes place on a Crucifix that I ultimately come down from. This is not a mocking of the church."
During the segment, which is set to the song "Live to Tell," Madonna is lowered to the stage aboard a giant, mirrored cross while wearing a crown of thorns.
"It is no different than a person wearing a Cross or 'Taking Up the Cross' as it says in the Bible," she continued. "My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole. I believe in my heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing."
She went on to say that her "specific intent is to bring attention to the millions of children in Africa who are dying every day, and are living without care, without medicine and without hope. I am asking people to open their hearts and minds to get involved in whatever way they can."
After subsequently noting that the song ends with a passage taken from the Bible, Madonna closed by saying: "Please do not pass judgment without seeing my show."
The statement comes amid a push by various religious groups that hope to convince NBC to pull the crucifixion scene from the network's planned November broadcast of a Madonna concert-special titled "Confessions Tour - Live from London."
"NBC has not confirmed whether they will include this portion of the show in their broadcast," Warner Bros., Madonna's label, said in a press release.
TV Guide Magazine on Thursday (9/21) quoted NBC entertainment chief Kevin Reilly as saying that the segment "probably would be in the show because Madonna felt strongly about it."
Madonna has been working the stage in support of her latest album, "Confessions," which last year debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. Her world tour, which launched in May, wrapped up Thursday (9/21) in Tokyo.
On Wednesday (9/20), the tour's promoter, Live Nation, announced that the 60-show outing had become the all-time highest-grossing tour by a female artist. The company, in a press release, said that the production had played to almost 1.2 million fans, and had grossed $193.7 million.
