Madonna Tests French Patience

Madonna reckons “a few thugs” were responsible for booing her at Paris Olympia July 26, a show arranged after France’s far-right National Front threatened to sue her for a video she played at an earlier concert in the French capital on Bastille Day.

During the earlier concert at Stade de France, Madge showed a video of far-right leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead, although the fuss at Olympia was because she played what the crowd thought was a very short set.

“Playing the Olympia was a magical moment for me and it was a real treat to do the special show for my fans and be so close to them,” said a note on Madonna’s website.

“Unfortunately at the end of the show – after I left the stage – a few thugs who were not my fans rushed the stage and started to throw plastic bottles pretending to be angry fans.”

French and international newspapers had reported the Olympia show ended with boos and cries of “refund” when Madonna the pop star left the stage after performing for 45 minutes.

On the day after the show, Madonna’s rep Liz Rosenberg said the length of the concert was in line with her previous club appearances.

“Madonna’s Paris club show was planned as her heartfelt thank-you to France, which she expressed at the start of her show,” Rosenberg said in a statement to MTV News.

“The show was not billed as her full ‘MDNA’ concert and tremendous effort was made to keep the ticket prices reasonable and keep them strictly for her fans.

“The show cost Madonna close to $1 million to produce. She has done a handful of club dates in the past and they were never more than 45 minutes. And by the way, she put on a fabulous show, which was streamed for millions of fans around the world,” Rosenberg added.