Pop icon Madonna dropped in to a Los Angeles club over the weekend to preview music from her soon-to-be-released 15th studio album, Confessions II.
But the star couldn’t hide her frustration as she tried to hype up the crowd at LA’s famed gay bar The Abbey, giving them an exclusive first listen to her new music – only to be met with a wall of phones in her face.
The 67-year-old pop diva appeared behind the decks at the nightspot alongside DJ and producer Stuart Price, the dance music mastermind who had co-produced her acclaimed 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor and returns for its sequel, set for release on July 3.
Also on hand, pop star – and Madonna disciple – Addison Rae, who served as hype woman, microphone in hand as she encouraged revellers to “make some noise for Madonna.”
But as Addison, 25, climbed higher up on the DJ riser and instructed the audience to put their hands up, Madonna repeatedly reached up and tried to take the microphone away from her – a moment that is now going viral on social media.
Most of the clips circulating cut before revealing what happened next: Madonna’s frustration was not with Rae, but with the audience, most of whom were watching the spectacle through their phone screens while recording the event.
“Put your phones down, yeah?” pleaded an audibly frustrated Madonna.
“Put your phones down – I’ll love you more if you put your phones down. Put your phones down, put your motherf**kin’ hands up.”
It appears Rae shared Madonna’s frustrations that those granted a rare audience with the queen of pop had spent it glued to their phones: Overnight, Rae shared a cartoon to her Instagram stories, an illustration showing a woman bearing her breasts in an attempt to get the attention of a man sat across from her at a table, his head buried in a phone.
And perhaps to prove her point, Rae has also shared exactly one post from the evening: A brief, blurry shot of a fireplace inside the venue. “All I got from last night. I was drunk. Love you @Madonna,” she wrote.
This isn’t the first time Madonna has voiced her frustrations at the modern trend of concertgoers filming shows rather than enjoying the moment. Her 2019 Madame X tour was her most intimate tour since the start of her career, playing theatres in the US, UK and Europe – and the star had a strict no-phones policy in place.
Those who attended had to cloak their phones and smart watches in pouches before the show.
At the time, a source told The Times that “[Madonna] wants to have an intimate experience with her audience without phones up in the air and screens separating fans from the performance.”
Rae wasn’t the only celeb in attendance at this weekend’s LA event: Lily Allen, Bebe Rexha and Tori Spelling were among the other stars who turned up to party with Madonna, who had her boyfriend, 29-year-old Jamaican-born former soccer player Akeem Morris, in tow.