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Madonna Fan Defends Singer Over Breast Flash
The 17-year-old Australian Madonna fan who gained world publicity after the singer pulled her top down onstage at her March 17 show – her second at the Brisbane Entertainment Center – has called it “an accident.”
Josephine Georgiou, a model from the Gold Coast, was chosen from the crowd to dance with the singer for a song and be spanked by her. Madonna was seen to yank the girl’s leather corset-style top down and expose a breast. The superstar responded, “Oh shit! Oh, sorry, sexual harassment.” She later posted, “Just so everyone knows, Josephine wasn’t ‘humiliated’ like the media are reporting. She was thrilled to bits and had the time of her life #rebelheart #bitchimmadonna.”
Australian media called the move “sexual assault” under Australian law. But Georgiou explained the singer had been holding on to a nipple ring peeking through her corset and accidentally pulled it down when she turned to talk to the crowd.
“I was so comfortable with the situation,” said Georgiou, who had earlier swapped her A$99 ($75.40) ticket for a A$500 ($380.95) ticket next to the runway with someone at the gate.
“I’m comfortable with my body, and my breasts are part of my body. I was not humiliated or embarrassed, because, after all, it is Madonna, after all. It was, like, 100% cool to me. To me it was just a bonding moment with her. I didn’t think it was such a big deal until the next morning when my phone starting blowing up.”
It was the latest headline-making antic on the Rebel Hearts Tour, Madonna’s first visit downunder in 23 years. Before the night’s show, Live Nation had warned attendees via Facebook the show could start late and offered refunds.
It added, “We encourage concertgoers to keep this in consideration when making arrangements to get home safely.” The night before, the singer came on at 11:22 p.m. after being advertised to begin at 9 p.m. After thanking the 13,000-strong crowd for its patience, she quipped, “You were here too early. You should have taken your time doing your hair and makeup. Then I wouldn’t have been late.”
By the time the show wrapped at 1 a.m., the last train from the venue to the city had departed 12:17 a.m. Many train travellers left early while others braved the long queue for cabs. During her Australian and New Zealand shows, her tardy arrivals ranged from 20 minutes to three hours.
At a last-minute club show at the Melbourne Forum Theatre March 10, fan club members and radio competition winners waited five hours, which the singer explained was due to final rehearsals of her stand-up routine.
The downunder shows took place while Madonna’s custody hearings with former husband Guy Ritchie over her teenage son Rocco were taking place in London. She was also accused of lip-synching and being drunk onstage, which she denied. She quipped during one of her shows, “You can’t get drunk on water.”
The seven-month Rebel Hearts Tour winds up in Sydney this weekend, with the March 19-20 shows at