Madonna has alleged that she refused to pay a $1 million fine from the Russian government after speaking about gay rights at a concert in St. Petersburg.
The pop legend performed in the city back in 2012, as part of her MDNA tour, and reportedly made a speech calling for equality and respect on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Vogue singer took to social media yesterday to share a clip in which she's heard saying: "The gay community and gay people, here and all around the world, have the same rights to be treated with dignity, with respect, with tolerance, with compassion, with love. Are you with me?"
Watch the clip below:In the caption, Madonna claimed that she was fined by the Russian government after making the comments.
"I made this speech at a concert in St Petersburg eight years ago," she wrote. "I was fined one million dollars by the government for supporting the gay community. I never paid."
She added the hashtags, "#freedomofspeech" and "#powertothepeople".
Although the Russian government has yet to confirm Madonna's assertions, per the Independent, a pro-Kremlin group known as The Trade Union of Russian Citizens sued Madonna for blasphemy back in 2012 over the speech, and sought $10 million in damages.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the union said that the hitmaker "promoted homosexuality when there were children at the concert and this is forbidden in St Petersburg".
They also said that the city "suffered a colossal moral damage" due to her comments.
Earlier this year, Madonna disclosed that she had tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies, meaning she had come into contact with the virus. Saying that she had taken ill during her Madame X tor in Paris in March, she explained that she has since recovered.
"When you test positive for anti-bodies it means you HAD the virus, which I clearly did as I was sick at the end of my tour in Paris over 7 weeks ago, along with many other artists in my show but at the time," she wrote on Instagram.
"Im Grateful that I can be a part of supporting Research to Find the cure for Covid -19!! And just to clear things up for people who would rather believe sensationalist headlines than do their own research about the nature of this virus - I am not currently sick.
"When you test positive for anti-bodies it means you HAD the virus which I. clearly did as I was sick at the end of my tour in Paris over 7 weeks ago along with many other artists in my show but at the time. We all thought we had a very bad flu. Thank God we are all healthy and well now. Hope that clears things up for the band wagon jumpers!! Knowledge is Power! [sic]"
The music legend has also pledged to donate $1.1 million to help find a vaccine.
