Did someone just try to tell Madonna what to do?! The Material Girl, 55, was a surprise attendee at the Tuesday, Oct. 8 premiere of acclaimed historical drama 12 Years a Slave. Looking dramatic and youthful in an all-black outfit (including lace gloves) with bright red lipstick, her hair in blonde bombshell waves, Madonna happily congratulated the film's director, Steve McQueen, and posed for photos at the New York Film Festival event.
Inside the screening at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theatre, however, the pop legend apparently dispensed with standard moviegoer etiquette. As first reported in the New York Post's Page Six, "a mysterious blonde in black lace gloves who wouldn't stop texting on her Blackberry throughout the first half of the movie" sat in front of one anonymous audience member.
The irked moviegoer continued: "Eventually, a woman next to me tapped her on the shoulder and told her to put her phone away, and the blonde hissed back, 'It's for business… enslaver!'" As it happens, 12 Years a Slave — starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and others, is a fact-based historical fame about a freed slave (Ejiofor) who is sold back into slavery.
The observer eventually figured out that the rude, unapologetic lady in black gloves was Madonna herself. Another attendee at the screening tells Us Weekly: "Some people are shocked by this, because Madonna was visibly tearing up, everybody there thought that she was very moved by it. She really wanted to say hello to Steve McQueen and congratulate him."
For access to all our exclusive celebrity videos and interviews – Subscribe on YouTube!
