Madonna made a memorable appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s US talk show this week, that saw her shocking the host by climbing on his desk in the middle of their interview.
The music icon was on the programme to promote her new concert film Madame X, a live recording of her infamous 2020 tour, which saw her playing at select theatres in place of the usual arenas and stadiums.
Referring to Madonna’s decision to play at smaller venues, the host commented: “You always do stuff that no one’s doing, you zig when people are zagging… but here’s what I was going to ask you…?”
“Did I make any money?” Madonna interrupted. “No I didn’t!”
Jimmy insisted: “I wasn’t going to ask you that! But people take your ideas, you do all these things first, and then people take your ideas and don’t give you credit.”
“Yeah,” Madonna agreed. “And they also don’t do it as good. That sounds really arrogant but it’s kind of true.”
Later, Madonna cited a James Baldwin quote about artists’ role being “to disturb the peace”, which is a mantra throughout her Madame X film.
“I hope that I have disturbed not only your peace this afternoon, but people watching the show,” Madonna explained. “But I mean that in the best way.”
“Yeah, you get in good trouble,” the presenter asked.
“Good trouble?” the Like A Prayer singer questioned.
Unprompted, she then rose out of her chair and climbed on Jimmy’s desk, while he protested and eventually took off his jacket to cover her backside.
“Oh, no one’s going to see anything, my god,” Madonna insisted, lifting the back of her skirt before sitting down for good measure.
“Life is not just about interviewing kiddies, OK?” she added. “Don’t you want to talk to an adult? Let’s have some adult conversation!”
“Is that right? Are you talking to an adult right now?” Jimmy asked.
“I’m not sure… I’m talking to someone who’s… I feel like you’re in sort of conflict right now.”
Madonna’s Madame X tour was generally well-received by critics, though it did hit a few bumps in the road along the way.
The singer was bemused to discover that some fans had disobeyed the no-phones rule she’d instilled at the theatres she was playing at, and several shows eventually had to be cancelled or drastically altered when she sustained a knee injury.
In London, the Palladium closed the curtain in the middle of one of her shows when she ran late, and the last few dates in Paris were eventually pulled completely as a result of the pandemic.