Madonna and her son David Banda shared a public tribute to victims of police brutality in Minnesota — but fans weren’t quite happy with the message they were sending.
“Brutal murder travels around the world,” the 61-year-old singer tweeted on Thursday, May 28, alongside a video of her 14-year-old son. “My son David Dances to honor and pay tribute to George and His Family and all Acts of Racism and Discrimination that happen on a daily basis in America. #davidbanda #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd #MichaelJackson.”
Brutal murder travels around the world my son David Dances to honor and pay tribute to George and His Family and all Acts of Racism and Discrimination that happen on a daily basis in America. #davidbanda #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd #MichaelJackson pic.twitter.com/wLa6YKrYF1
— Madonna (@Madonna) May 28, 2020
In the video, David does his best to emulate the late Michael Jackson‘s iconic dance moves to the pop star’s 1995 protest song, “They Don’t Care About Us.” The singer and her son, who she adopted from Malawi in 2006, were hoping to make a statement about the recent killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis after footage of his wrongful death went viral on social media, inciting riots throughout the city. Floyd, 46, was suffocated after being held down by police officers while being arrested on Monday, May 25.
Despite her attempt at addressing social injustice, fans were quick to call out the “Like a Prayer” songstress for her “tone deaf” response. Retired basketball player Rex Chapman said the video was in the running to be the “worst tweet of all time” and that Madonna had a “weird take” on the serious topic. Other fans echoed Chapman’s discomfort with the Grammy winner’s post — and didn’t hold back with their criticism.
“I really appreciate you for allowing your son to dance away the racism for us,” one Twitter user wrote. Another slammed Madonna for her “self-absorbed celebrity,” while other users claimed the video was “trash” and “deeply disrespectful.”
Though the “Material Girl” singer faced widespread criticism over the video of her son, some fans defended her choice to speak out in a unique way. “It’s a protest song and the message is exactly about what is happening in US,” one user wrote.
Before sharing her son’s tribute, Madonna took to Instagram to speak out about Floyd’s death more directly. “Watching this Cop suffocate George Floyd with his knee on his neck, handcuffed and helpless, crying for his life with his face in the street is the most sickening, heartbreaking thing I’ve seen in a long time,” she wrote on Wednesday, May 27. “This has to stop!! … God Bless you George Floyd I’m so sorry for you and your family. And all the senseless killings that have gone before you.”
Earlier this year, the Queen of Pop was slammed for calling the novel coronavirus “the great equalizer” amid the global outbreak. Madonna also has a history of making controversial comments about race, and faced backlash for using images of Nelson Mandela, Bob Marley and Martin Luther King Jr. to promote her 2015 album, Rebel Heart.
