Madonna's MDNA tour hit Istanbul this weekend (9 June) and the singer, no stranger to controversy, celebrated by flashing her audience. There was no wardrobe malfunction here. It was a totally calculated act.
The singer – who had the words 'No Fear' etched on her back – was performing her song 'Human Nature' when she pulled down her bra and flashed one of her nipples.
It's not just flashing flesh that has helped Madonna grab headlines. She recently angered Far-Right French politician Martine Le Pen after placing a swastika on an image of her during a gig in Israel last week.
Le Pen has said that if the incident is repeated when Madonna's tour arrives in France in July, she will sue. She said: 'We understand how old singers who need to get people talking about them go to such extremes.'
When she was asked if she would sue Madonna, Le Pen replied: 'If she does that in France, we'll be waiting.'
There's another feud brewing between Madonna and Lady Gaga. Recently Madonna told ABC News what she felt about suggestions Lady Gaga was sounding a lot like her, specifically the similarities between her 'Express Yourself' track and Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way'. Madonna said: 'I certainly think she references me a lot in her work. And sometimes I think it's amusing and flattering and well-done.'
She added: 'When I heard ['Born This Way'] on the radio … I said, 'that sounds very familiar' … It felt reductive.'
When asked if 'reductive' was good or bad, Madonna replied curtly: 'Look it up.'
Lady Gaga responded during a show in Auckland, New Zealand. She said: 'It sometimes makes people feel better about themselves to put other people down or make fun of them or maybe make mockery of their work. And that doesn't make me feel good at all. That just makes me feel like I'm not being a good human being.'
She added: 'I don't even want to fight back because it's more important to me to keep writing music," she adds. "Because that's really all I care about, is the music… things are really different than they were 25 years ago, and that's what makes 'Born this Way' so relevant for me. We're socially in a different place and it's OK, we don't have to all slice and hate each other anymore.'
Madonna's MDNA tour reaches the UK in July when she plays Hyde Park in London (17) and Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh (21).
