“We’ve never had a great thing”: 5 queer celebrities dish on their weird fallings-out with Madonna

Famed record producer William Orbit recently spoke to The Mirror about his falling out with Madonna after working on her 2012 album MDNA.

“She dives into everything with such enthusiasm,” said Orbit, who also collaborated with the singer on her 1998 album Ray of Light. “I drank too much and said stupid things. I don’t know where we stand.”

Related: Madonna’s longtime producer William Orbit opens up about their dramatic breakup after ‘MDNA’

Orbitz added that Madonna has never been sentimental and hinted that she has an easy time dumping people, even her own family members.

“She’s not really someone who looks back,” he said. “I might get a call tomorrow, you know?”

But Orbit isn’t the only person whose relationship with the Queen of Pop seems sour. Scroll down for five queer celebrities who have shared their own Madonna dispute stories…

Sandra Bernard

Speaking to the podcast Hot Takes and Deep Dives in December 2021 about her former BFF:

I didn’t really like that level of visibility and had to constantly work on it. All of us, as performers, work on it to some degree, but I’m a very improvisational person, on stage and in my life, and I don’t like being tied to any particular way for my image.

What I was trying to convey in our friendship was, “I’m really your friend, I’m not just someone passing through.” And I guess we had a real friendship for a while. But it’s hard for someone like her. She doesn’t really want to be around someone who is too self-reflective. That’s why their relationships just don’t last.

Also Read: Sandra Bernhard Just Got Brutally Honest About Her Former BFF Madonna

Pedro Almodovar

In a personal essay published by Indiewire in April 2020 about appearing in Madonna’s 1991 documentary Truth or Dare:

I went out with her on the days she was in Madrid. I organized a big flamenco party for her… She had made it very clear to me that apart from me she was only interested in meeting one other guest, Antonio Banderas. I promised her Antonio would be there, but I didn’t tell her I couldn’t invite him without his then-wife Ana Leza, a big fan of the singer.

Madonna didn’t pay attention to anyone else. Ana ventured to our table and said sarcastically to the divine blonde: “I see that you like my man, it doesn’t surprise me, all women like him but I don’t mind because I am very modern.” To which Madonna replied, “Go away.”

Madonna treated us like simpletons and I had to say it one day. She didn’t ask permission to use our pictures and she even dubbed me because I guess my English wasn’t that good.

See also: Almodóvar spills big tea in ‘Truth or Dare’ scene with Madonna: ‘She treated us like simpletons’

Rufus Wainwright

Speaking to Attitude in June 2022 about why Madonna doesn’t like him:

Look, I’m fascinated by Madonna, as is the universe. I had evenings with her. Nothing major, but minor clashes with her over the years, and she’s never been particularly… I’m on a weird part of her radar! I’m not a goal, but I’m not a refuge either. However.

We’ve never had anything great. But I admire their tenacity and some of their songs are great. But she’s been pretty mean to me a few times. But it’s like, join the list.

She, like certain other celebrities of this magnitude, has real tunnel vision. When it comes to intimate things, she just doesn’t acknowledge me, doesn’t really see me.

… There was one small incident where she may have accused me of something because I worked with someone who used to work for her and ended up leaving her: a political thing.

At a very small event with only a few people present, she ignored me. It was just bizarre and very rude in general. I’m not like that. You give everyone in the room a little appreciation.

Related: Rufus Wainwright just spilled tea over Madonna: ‘She’s been pretty mean to me a couple of times’

Rupert Everett

Speaking to Stellar magazine in March 2020 about their falling out after writing about her in his 2006 memoir Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins:

We will not see us anymore. I miss it. She is an amazing person and this part of my life has been incredibly exciting. Doing a film with her and being a friend of hers and being such a fan of hers.

She really didn’t like it (the book). I find her very loving, and with her I was very careful to only write things that were. But she felt it was an invasion of privacy.

Goddesses like this are obsessed with their public image and want to control everything about it, so if anyone is going to tell anyone about her, it has to be her.

Elephants don’t forget… She doesn’t trust me anymore.

See also: Dear Rupert Everett: We love you, but your film with Madonna sucked.

Christopher Ciccone

Speaking to The Sun in August 2017 about what happened after he wrote the comprehensive book Life with My Sister Madonna in 2008:

When I came back to LA, my 500 acquaintances suddenly became four friends. She’s pretty powerful in Los Angeles, in the business. I’ve worked in the industry doing music videos and touring and it was difficult, if not impossible, to get work. Madonna likes to hold grudges.

I could have written that book, the book about how terrible she is or can be, but I didn’t write that book. I was just looking for a little recognition for the work I’ve been doing with her for 20 years that it wasn’t one person.

Also Read: Madonna’s Little Brother Calls Her ‘Terrible’