The 'Papa Don't Preach' hitmaker is called out for her insensitive and 'inappropriate' new saucy photos recreating the scene of the 'Some Like It Hot' actress' 1962 death.
- Oct 30, 2021
AceShowbiz - Madonna has come under fire for her insensitive new saucy photoshoot. The "Material Girl" songstress was dubbed "gross" after she recreated Marilyn Monroe's 1962 death for a magazine photo session.
For her new V Magazine cover shoot, the 63-year-old teamed up with photographer Steven Klein. The cover photo saw Madonna laying face down on a mattress, exposing her bottom. Meanwhile, in another photographs, the "Like A Virgin" artist covered her body with a white fluffy coat. Some prescription pill bottles could also be seen on her nightstand.
Marilyn's death was ruled a "probable suicide" after she was found dead at her home. At that time, it's reported that the medical examiners found drugs in her system which were several times over the lethal limit.
Shortly after the photos were released, many social media critics took issue with the photos, accusing Madonna of "glamorizing" Marilyn's suicide. "For some morbid and eerie reason, Madonna decides to re-create Marilyn Monroe's death bed," wrote one, with another responding, "Yuck. Gross and inappropriate."
"This isn't cool. Glamorizing suicide is the only takeaway once the shock factor wears off," another critic tweeted. A separate Twitter user added, "Must be sad to still need so much attention. And this is so gross." In the meantime, another person chimed in, "She always had a creepy fascination with Marilyn."
Madonna's 1984 music video for "Material Girl" was based on Marilyn's performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." The "Papa Don't Preach" songstress also played Marilyn during a "Saturday Night Live" sketch in 1985 and dressed up as the "Some Like It Hot" actress in a sparkling strapless gown for an Oscars afterparty in 1991.
Of the magazine cover photo, Steve, the photographer, said that the images were inspired by Bert Stern's "The Last Sitting" photoshoot with Marilyn, which was conducted just six weeks before her death. "When I sent Madonna the photos, she was really taken by the incandescent fragility of Marilyn at that moment in her life," he explained.
"We decided to find a hotel suite and try to capture the liaison between a star and the camera, the mystery and magic of this creative collaboration," Steve added. He then pointed out that he and Madonna were "not interested in recreating the images exactly but more importantly, [they] wanted to explore the relationship between photographer and subject. Both the friendship and the artistic process and how art can imitate life and vice versa."
