On ABC News’ ’20/20′, Madonna came out swinging at Lady Gaga, lacing backhanded compliments with occasionally unmasked criticism. Her responses were tepid enough in the beginning, with the Queen of Pop calling her unofficial protege “amusing” in her similarities, but only “sometimes.” She spoke with the dismissively haughty tone of Angela Lansbury when discussing youth.
The real nastiness came when Madonna was asked about her feeling toward the song “Born This Way,” which many critics noted as being remarkably similar to Madonna’s hit ‘Like a Prayer’ track “Express Yourself.” She said her initial response to hearing it on the radio was, “That sounds very familiar…”
She went in for the jugular when asked for her thoughts on the song, saying that “it feels reductive.” When asked by interviewer Cynthia McFadden if this was a positive or negative thing (because journalists apparently aren’t what they used to be), Madonna responded, “Look it up.” Madge then sipped her tea and raised her eyebrows like the unpleasant individual she’s always seemed to be.
Assuming the worst, that Gaga intentionally ripped off and plagiarized “Born This Way,” then legal measures would be entirely in order. Given the lack of any such action, one must assume that Madonna does not in fact believe that Lady Gaga stole her intellectual property.
Her attitude begs the question: Is everyone over it? While the take-no-prisoners, punky disposition seemed cool in angsty decades past, it wears infinitely less well on an individual powering through her 50’s in the new millennium. Taking cheap shots at Lady Gaga, the young artist who does more to support Madonna’s target audience (LGBT listeners) then all of her contemporaries combined, feels reductive.
What do you think?