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Madonna, Swastika Controversy: Pop Star Defends Stage Stunt Amid Lawsuit

Posted on Jul 26th 2012 10:50AM by Contessa Gayles

Madonna Swastika Markus Schreiber, AP

After enraging France's Front National party by superimposing a giant swastika over a photo of their leader, Marine Le Pen, during her MDNA tour, Madonna is defending her onstage political statement. The pop icon faces a lawsuit from the right-wing party, but is not apologizing for the stunt.

After Madge debuted a video featuring the Marine Le Pen-swastika image at her opening concert in Tel Aviv, Israel the angry politician warned that if Madonna showed the clip during her Paris performance, she would resort to legal action. Madge, being the provocative, controversy-courting icon that she is, defied Le Pen and played the video as planned.

Now the singer is explaining the move on Brazilian TV, insisting, "All images in the video were chosen purposefully." She continued, "That film that was created about the intolerance that we human beings have for one another and how much we judge people before knowing them. There seems to be a growing intolerance around the world. In Greece, France, everywhere people are trying to kick out all the immigrants, make people cover up and not show what their religious affiliation is."

"Think about what's going on in Russia towards the gay community," Madonna said. "Art is there to track what's going on in the world, to make social commentary ... I'm calling attention to that intolerance and asking people to pay attention, to wake up to see how we are just creating more chaos in the world," she claimed.

Marine is the daughter of her party's founder and former leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, a Holocaust denier who has been accused and convicted several times at home and abroad of antisemitism. Marine has often distanced herself from her father's more controversial views in a bid to improve the party's image.

Watch the Marine Le Pen Swastika Image Appear at 1:33