Madonna makes Jimmy Fallon very nervous as she flashes her backside to audience
Never one to care about our expectations of her behavior, Madonna still isn’t afraid to express herself. And she illustrated that in her Thursday appearance on “The Tonight Show.â€
The Material Girl sprawled across Fallon’s desk and flippantly flashed her scantily clad backside to Jimmy Fallon’s in-studio audience as her latest “get in good trouble†moment.
Fallon seemed genuinely shocked by the move and later implored her to “behave.†It’s unclear if the stunt, taped earlier in the day, was staged or not. (Reps for the show did not immediately respond to The Times request for comment.)
“Art is important in our lives. I don’t think people emphasize that enough,†said the “Express Yourself†singer, who’s promoting her new Paramount+ concert film, “Madame X,†which was released Friday.
“One of the things I quote over and over again in the show is that ‘artists are here to disturb the peace,†she added, citing American novelist James Baldwin as a source of inspiration for her and the concert. “I hope that I have disturbed not only your peace this afternoon, but people’s peace while they watch the show. But I mean that in the best way.â€
“You get in good trouble,†Fallon said, referring to late Congressman John Lewis’ signature call to action. The phrase apparently elicited a reflex in the singer and prompted her to slide across Fallon’s desk, sending the host into a tizzy to cover her backside with his blazer.
“No one’s gonna see anything, my God!†Madonna, 63, said after dismounting the furniture. She then twirled to lift her skirt and exposed her bodysuit and hosiery-clad derrière to viewers. (She pulled a similar stunt at the MTV Video Music Awards last month.)
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“Life is not just about interviewing kiddies. OK?†she told Fallon. “Don’t you want to talk to an adult? Let’s have an adult conversation.â€
“Are you talking to an adult right now?†replied the TV host, who customarily fawns over his guests no matter what their age or claim to fame.
“I’m not sure,†she retorted. (It should be noted that elsewhere in the interview she led an impromptu singalong of “Like a Virgin†after Fallon told her how nervous she makes him.)
The outspoken star, who has been repeatedly imitated but never duplicated, agreed with Fallon that she doesn’t get enough credit for her original ideas that other artists copy.
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“And they also don’t do it as good. That sounds really arrogant, but it’s kind of true,†she said.
Madonna also spoke up about how reviews of her work rarely “get it right.†That’s why she’s working on “a visual autobiography†— er, “biopic†(but don’t call it that).
“The reason I’m doing it is because a bunch of people have tried to write movies about me, but they’re always men. Ugh. Some men are good. ‘Good men’ is pretty much an oxymoron,†she added.
She also blasted studios and an unnamed “misogynistic director†who got her life totally wrong on previous projects. So she protested the work.
Universal Pictures is developing a movie that promises to tell the “untold true story†of Madonna, as directed and co-written by Madonna herself.
“Finally I just threw down the gauntlet,†she said, actually throwing her red elbow-length glove on the stage floor. “I just said there’s nobody on this planet that can write, or direct or make a movie about me that is better than me. And that is just the truth.â€
On the topic of film, the “Evita†star and “W.E.†director also said she regretted turning down the role of Catwoman in the Batman franchise and a part in “The Matrix.â€
Maybe she’ll remedy that in her visual autobiography, next tour or next stop on a late-night desk.
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