Madonna reacts to narratives of other women copying her

[MadArchitect 838]

7 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

Madonna never called Gaga reductive. She said she felt the song and comparisons were reductive. Have you actually seen that full interview? Because she was very complimentary towards Gaga and said she was flattered to be seen as an inspiration and didn’t find them to be similar artists at all. She’s never once actually bad mouthed Gaga as a person or artist. Even when she spoke about it again in 2015:

“I don’t think she wants my crown,” Madonna says, referring to Gaga. “We live in a world where people like to pit women against each other. And this is why I love the idea of embracing other females who are doing what I’m doing. . .The only time I ever criticized Lady Gaga was when I felt like she blatantly ripped off one of my songs. It’s got nothing to do with ‘she’s taking my crown’ or ‘she’s in some space of mine.’ She has her thing. I do think she’s a very talented singer and songwriter. It was just that one issue. And everybody’s obviously running with it and turned it into a huge feud, which I think is really boring, quite frankly. And you know what? I don’t care anymore.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/madonna-fights-back-inside-rolling-stones-new-issue-104684/

In any case, like Madonna, I have no desire to continue going in circles over a long dead subject. All I’ll say is that you are misinformed, or you’re not caught up about everything that went down. But the receipts are there whenever you decide to dive deeper.

yes of course i watch it entirely, i'm not misinformed at all, i've seen how everything went down cause i wanted to understand, she made the reductive comment clearly referring to Born This Way and Gaga, not about the song comparisons or the press, the reporter questions were about what was HER reaction when she first saw Born this way and if she felt annoyed that the song sounded similar to hers,  she replies that it rather "feels reductive", the reporter even asks "is that good?" and she says "look it up" and sips her tea, if it was about the song comparisons why would she do that? she meant it to be shady towards Born This Way and Gaga, she knew exactly what she was doing lol

Furthermore in that same interview the reporter asks her directly if she thinks she's copying her, and she doesn't reply No lmao, rather she says "i certainly think she references me A LOT in her work and SOMETIMES is amusing and well done and flattering" and then says "i can't be insulted or annoyed because i've OBVIOUSLY influenced her a lot" she was setting it up for the reductive comment, and it was the same self important and patronizing tone she had with Courtney, when she first seemingly compliments before throwing the dig.

Even furthermore other comments in different interviews like “I’m a really big fan of Born This Way, I’m glad that I helped Gaga write it" and "I thought, What a wonderful way to redo my song" OR on tour doing the medley of BTW/EY alongside comments like "I love her, Imitation is the highest form of flattery"

You're just in denial girl...

 Yes, that interview you quoted was after the fact in 2015 and again being disingenuous, easy to blame the world but then she fails to see her own faults and the ways that she has also actively contributed to it, not only to gaga but for so many other mainstream female artists...

[Guillaume Hamon 6,289]

8 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

She’s never once actually bad mouthed Gaga as a person or artist.

C'mon her born this way/ express yourself medley added a final song about a sneaky girl who freaks her out. 😆 A girl who became the flavor of the moment by stealing from her yet will never be able to replace her. Used to conclude a medley between her song and its alleged Gaga copy... So she absolutely did badmouth Gaga publicly and multiple times lol.

8 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

All I’ll say is that you are misinformed, or you’re not caught up about everything that went down. But the receipts are there whenever you decide to dive deeper

That's the other way around, you missed parts of the story or chose to ignore it.

Edited April 18 by Guillaume Hamon

[HermesG 1,513]

On 4/17/2025 at 2:25 AM, Windowlicker said:

Wait until you read this:
 

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What do you think of Courtney Love?

[Laughs] I knew you were going to ask me that question.

 

So you probably have a statement prepared.

I do. I do. I rehearsed it. No, I think she’s supremely talented. I really do. When Maverick first started, we tried to sign her. But I think that drugs have destroyed her brain, or they are slowly destroying her. I am fascinated by her, but the same way I am by somebody who’s got Tourette’s syndrome walking in Central Park. I want to stop and just watch their human behaviour. She fascinates me on that level. I don’t know. I feel sorry for her. I really do, and I know if she reads this, she’ll be slagging me off online for the next eight months. I do think she knows not what she says.

It’s true for old people who go around spewing venom on people, that deep down inside, they’re hurt, they’re sad, lonely, whatever. Kurt Loder interviewed me after the MTV Awards, after I won some award, and I was sitting up on a platform on the street. About five minutes into the interview, a compact went sailing over my head. I thought someone on the street was throwing things at me. And I hear this gravelly voice, and then we looked down and it’s Courtney, and she’s throwing makeup out of her purse at us, and it’s just missing our heads. And Kurt invites her up.

Now, I know Kurt invited her up because there’s all this hyped-up bullshit how we have been feuding for years and years, and I think he wanted to see a catfight. She was babbling about 25 different things. And at one point, she did grab my arm and said something to me like. ” ’94 sucked, but ’95’s going to be better, isn’t it?” And in that one moment I looked in her eyes and felt her vulnerability and her sadness and I felt bad for her. I felt that she was trying to reach out to me, even though at every chance she gets, she slags me off in the press. Years ago, she probably admired me and looked up to me, and now I’m like a parent to her or something, and she wants to destroy me. So, that’s what I think about Courtney [laughs].

 

Why don’t other successful women in pop – the Whitneys and Mariahs – speak out for the things they believe in?

Well, pop is short for popular and to remain popular you can’t have a point of view or be outspoken. To remain popular you can’t go against the grain. Janis Joplin, at this time, in this world would not be a popular artist. Chrissie Hynde doesn’t sell as many records as somebody like Mariah Carey. And that’s because Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston don’t have a ****ing point of view.

 

Whitney had one about you, didn’t she – she said that she’d kill her children if they turned out like you.

Madonna arches her brows coolly. “I’ve never heard either of them say anything horrible about me. But if they have, it’s completely transparent why. It would be based on jealousy of the fact that I have a point of view. I think that it’s an artist’s responsibility to have a point of view. Society takes its cue from popular art. People need something to look to, something to provoke them into questioning whether they completely hate something or completely love something. Perhaps somebody like Mariah Carey wishes she could make that happen. On the other hand,” she smiles nastily, “if you’re not terribly bright I suppose that you don’t really give a damn.”

 

You’ve said that certain of the next generation of female artists, in particular Courtney Love, have denounced you only because, “they want their independence… like a child does from a parent.” Why should they see you as this Big Bad Momma figure?

Because I paved the way for them, I absolutely paved the way for people like Courtney Love and Liz Phair. Just as Debbie Harry paved the way for me.

 

Did you ever denounce Debbie Harry?

No. But I’m not a drug addict and I don’t hate myself.

 

Are you disappointed that Time Warner jettisoned Interscope? Shouldn’t a company whose main product is artistic expression stand up for its artists?

I think when you’re fed a steady diet of crap, you come to expect it after a while. But art is not really a very important part of our culture any more. I was talking to k.d. lang about it last night. I don’t want to get into slagging off other artists, but we were talking about her record versus someone like Mariah Carey’s — and I think she’s a very talented singer — but we have to realize that the same country that acquitted O.J. is the same country that makes a complete piece of **** movie No. 1, that buys Mariah Carey records. It’s this homogeneity. But it’s got nothing to do with art.

She doesn't have the 10% of Whitney's or Maria's voice but in that interview part shes 100% true and boy, she lnows how to speak her self out better that anyone. And then, after 2010 something happened n she tried to be relevant to youngs n the result became ridiculous as her albums after. 

Hope her return to the production team of confessions give her again some quality. As i see she s still smart enough and her recent quotes -truth or not- give me that she realised her ridiculous fall. Maybe she ll turn it on her image too i hope..

After all she gave on the world one of the best catalogues of all tome with her albums till '10 specially from a woman with a voice just cute but with a huge mind an spectacular aesthetic at list for previous decades.

[Guillaume Hamon 6,289]

13 minutes ago, MadArchitect said:

she replies that it rather "feels reductive", the reporter even asks "is that good?" and she says "look it up" and sips her tea, if it was about the song comparisons why would she do that? she meant it to be shady towards Born This Way and Gaga, she knew exactly what she was doing lol

Furthermore in that same interview the reporter asks her directly if she thinks she's copying her, and she doesn't reply No lmao, rather she says "i certainly think she references me A LOT in her work and SOMETIMES is amusing and well done and flattering" and then says "i can't be insulted or annoyed because i've OBVIOUSLY influenced her a lot" she was setting it up for the reductive comment, and it was the same self important and patronizing tone she had with Courtney, when she first seemingly compliments before throwing the dig.

Even furthermore other comments in different interviews like “I’m a really big fan of Born This Way, I’m glad that I helped Gaga write it" and "I thought, What a wonderful way to redo my song" OR on tour doing the medley of BTW/EY alongside comments like "I love her, Imitation is the highest form of flattery"

And said she wouldn't talk about Gaga's obsessions with her too.

Madonna stans insisting she only supported Gaga lovingly when she shown disdain towards her so many times is either gaslighting or ignorance. 😂 

[MadArchitect 838]

12 minutes ago, HermesG said:

She doesn't have the 10% of Whitney's or Maria's voice but in that interview part shes 100% true and boy, she lnows how to speak her self out better that anyone. And then, after 2010 something happened n she tried to be relevant to youngs n the result became ridiculous as her albums after. 

i think that she's also correct in that specific part of the interview, but not about Courtney at all, i still can't take it seriously, she's also not even 10% as disruptive as Sinead O'Connor, yet she also decided to be mean to her and throw digs at her....

[Mr S 8,671]

New PR team

May or may not mean it, but either way it's good to see. That kind of attitude was cool back in the day but in 2025 we don't need that.

 

Also what Madonna did/say back the hurtful but so much time has passed. Gaga has reached legend status (in her own lane at that) while Madonna is kind of forgotten and was passed by Mariah. It's fair to say Madonna learned her lesson and wants to make amends. She has supported Gaga since, and vice versa. I say it's time to forgive and forget. There will always be a few haters but we should be ignoring them. Again Gaga is a legend now, and is in her own lane. Fan wars are beneath us. 

Edited April 18 by Mr S

[Windowlicker 3,443]

3 hours ago, Guillaume Hamon said:

C'mon her born this way/ express yourself medley added a final song about a sneaky girl who freaks her out. 😆 A girl who became the flavor of the moment by stealing from her yet will never be able to replace her. Used to conclude a medley between her song and its alleged Gaga copy... So she absolutely did badmouth Gaga publicly and multiple times lol.

That's the other way around, you missed parts of the story or chose to ignore it.

You realize she had to pay to cover that song on tour and release it commercially as part of her live album, right? And that Gaga had to give her approval for her to do so? Fernando Garibay confirmed this himself. If you think her poking fun at the situation is “bad mouthing” then obviously there’s no way to convince you no matter how many quotes I pull up of her talking about how she thinks Gaga is a great artist, etc. when you’re just going to take it in bad faith.

Especially after I’ve already posted videos of Gaga talking about Madonna being a friend and mentor early on, yet you think it’s gaslighting and denial.

At the end of the day, my main point is that Gaga fans have taken this far more seriously than Gaga ever did. When I met her in early 2013 and spoke to her about it she mostly made jokes and found the whole thing really stupid/funny. They eventually made amends back in 2015. I think she was hurt at first, but ultimately came to realize it was never serious. If Gaga (the person who was actually involved in this) can move on with zero hard feelings, her fans should also be able to as well.

Anyway… I’m gonna go dance now 

 

[GAGAXABO 390]

Back in the day I was a massive fan of Madonna. When she decided against supporting a megatalented new girl that had admired her forever, I stopped stanning her and started disliking her. She made it obvious that she was selfish and a hypocrite. Adding her latest professional decisions to all that… I cannot even stand listening to her anylonger.

[AiDi 190]

1 hour ago, Windowlicker said:

At the end of the day, my main point is that Gaga fans have taken this far more seriously than Gaga ever did.

 

Um, you better look at Madonna fans. THEY have taken this to the level of absurd. Grown ass men acting stupid. Even today I saw comparisons between Coachella and Madonna. Madonnas fan are the worst, because they are in their 30s and 40s acting like children.

[Windowlicker 3,443]

11 minutes ago, AiDi said:

 

Um, you better look at Madonna fans. THEY have taken this to the level of absurd. Grown ass men acting stupid. Even today I saw comparisons between Coachella and Madonna. Madonnas fan are the worst, because they are in their 30s and 40s acting like children.

Nah, I’m looking at both sides. This thread is proof that y’all still haven’t let it go.

[Guillaume Hamon 6,289]

6 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

You realize she had to pay to cover that song on tour and release it commercially as part of her live album, right? And that Gaga had to give her approval for her to do so? Fernando Garibay confirmed this himself. If you think her poking fun at the situation is “bad mouthing” then obviously there’s no way to convince you no matter how many quotes I pull up of her talking about how she thinks Gaga is a great artist, etc. when you’re just going to take it in bad faith.

6 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

Especially after I’ve already posted videos of Gaga talking about Madonna being a friend and mentor early on, yet you think it’s gaslighting and denial.

6 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

At the end of the day, my main point is that Gaga fans have taken this far more seriously than Gaga ever did. When I met her in early 2013 and spoke to her about it she mostly made jokes and found the whole thing really stupid/funny.

6 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

If Gaga (the person who was actually involved in this) can move on with zero hard feelings, her fans should also be able to as well.

4 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

This thread is proof that y’all still haven’t let it go.

It could be just for fun but for all the positive quotes you gave there are multiple shady moments you still chose to ignore. Those moments make it hard to believe M wasn't shady with this mashup and overall around this time. Plus Gaga approved the cover indeed but are we even sure she knew She's not me would be played right after? 😆 Nobody denied these earlier comments. What I called denial or gaslighting is pretending Madonna was never dismissive towards her which was a thing for a while after 2011. And a few years after you met her she was in 5ft2 showing she was still hurt by it 5 years afterwards. So she was playing it cool in 2013 but wasn't actually done with the beef at all clearly. That's why smear campaign against a young girl shouldn't be joined by an elder lady who went through it herself before.

I mean you're saying that there was nothing to begin with or close. It's not "hard feelings" to just not buy some sugarcoated Madonna fans telling of it lol. You're also largely defending your pov here so same could be said to you if still discussing it now means forever obsessing over the story. You're the one acting like she wasn't openly dismissive towards a young fan who did credit her influence many times. Maybe it's Madonna fans who could let it go and admit she was mean instead of still saying it was basically made up.

Edited April 18 by Guillaume Hamon

[MACATL 1,322]

13 hours ago, Emvee said:

So what do you guys think inspired her to make this post? 

She did just “make up” with Elton.  Maybe he took her to task about the public Gaga hate.  

[Windowlicker 3,443]

22 minutes ago, MACATL said:

She did just “make up” with Elton.  Maybe he took her to task about the public Gaga hate.  

Madonna and Elton have "made up" multiple times   I was shocked it became such a story again. This was in 2013. It's just that he... keeps saying stuff that he has to apologize for 

Edited April 18 by Windowlicker

[Windowlicker 3,443]

53 minutes ago, Guillaume Hamon said:

It could be just for fun but for all the positive quotes you gave there are multiple shady moments you still chose to ignore. Those moments make it hard to believe M wasn't shady with this mashup and overall around this time. Plus Gaga approved the cover indeed but are we even sure she knew She's not me would be played right after? 😆 Nobody denied these earlier comments. What I called denial or gaslighting is pretending Madonna was never dismissive towards her which was a thing for a while after 2011. And a few years after you met her she was in 5ft2 showing she was still hurt by it 5 years afterwards. So she was playing it cool in 2013 but wasn't actually done with the beef at all clearly. That's why smear campaign against a young girl shouldn't be joined by an elder lady who went through it herself before.

I mean you're saying that there was nothing to begin with or close. It's not "hard feelings" to just not buy some sugarcoated Madonna fans telling of it lol. You're also largely defending your pov here so same could be said to you if still discussing it now means forever obsessing over the story. You're the one acting like she wasn't openly dismissive towards a young fan who did credit her influence many times. Maybe it's Madonna fans who could let it go and admit she was mean instead of still saying it was basically made up.

When an artist approves of a song's use, they typically ask exactly how is being used. Someone can't just ask to use a song and it gets the green light. The artist, and all parties involved with the song's creation, have to review and all agree for it to be cleared. That is how publishing works. 

Also Madonna fans have a problem with literally everyone. Even when Sabrina Carpenter paid tribute to her in a shoot a couple months ago and Madonna complimented it, they still had a problem. It's not something that will ever be fixed because they have a perpetual victim complex and need to protect their fave from things she doesn't need protecting from, which is something I've started to see in Gaga fans as well. But I suspect that's exactly the behavior Madonna is addressing with the OP. It's boring! 

Anyway. We're arguing over perspectives, so this is all pretty pointless and going in circles. Just like I can't change your mind in saying Madonna wasn't being spiteful or malicious, you're not going to convince me she actually was. Because your examples of her being "shady" don't read as anything but her being playful and sarcastic to me. I brought up her quotes about artists like Courtney love and Mariah, where she's really going in on both women, specifically to show how she acts if she doesn't like someone. And it's truly pretty rare that she's done that. That's why you have to go back to the 90s to find those quotes. For example, she never feuded with Janet Jackson or Kylie Minogue, two women who were very much direct competion with her in the 90s. Janet was more successful than she was back then. And she even wrote a song for Kylie to use on one of her albums. Britney was never a problem for her either. Therefore, I'm more inclined to believe that she never had a genuine problem with Gaga. And that's all there is left to say.

Edited April 18 by Windowlicker

[Guillaume Hamon 6,289]

11 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

Just like I can't change your mind in saying Madonna wasn't being spiteful or malicious, you're not going to convince me she actually was. Because your examples of her being "shady" don't read as anything but her being playful and sarcastic to me.

Frequently playing with the copycat accusations "for fun" towards a girl many medias and a large part of the GP present as a lame copy of you when you see how much it feeds the smear campaign against her each time you do so... Well even if M was always missing the fact she relaunched it each time, indeed you can't convince me she had no mean intentions. Not with 25 yrs of career filled with many made up female rivalries/ smear campaign against her, she obvs knew how the game worked and played along.