Madonna's "Girl Gone Wild" Controversy: Is Music Video Too Raunchy for YouTube?

Video megasite slaps an age restriction on singer's latest offering as pop queen defends her artistry

By Gina Serpe Mar 26, 2012 4:15 PMTags

Madonna is no stranger to the indiscriminate and often heavy hand of a censor, and her latest music video has proven to be more rule than exception.

Last week, E! Online exclusively premiered the pop superstar's "Girl Gone Wild" music video, and when it made its way to YouTube a day later, it wasn't without controversy, as the video-hosting megasite quickly deemed it inappropriate for younger viewers and slapped it with a gatekeeping age restriction.

Over the weekend, Madonna spoke out about the scandal, and—surprise—she's none too impressed with the decision.

"There's controversy about your video for 'Girls Gone Wild' on YouTube," Jimmy Fallon told the singer during their live Facebook chat on Saturday.

"That's what they say," she replied.

"Yeah, now you have to have age restriction," Fallon went on. "They don't want the grinding and the groins. That's what I look forward to when I see these videos, I want to see the groins and the grinding."

Madonna's thoughts exactly, it would seem.

"What's wrong with...what grinding?" she asked, before defending her preferred mode of artistic expression. "I'm supposed to be a Girl Gone Wild in the video—how can I go wild and not grind?"

YouTube, at least, seems to think Madonna is up to the challenge, having reportedly asked her people to recut a cleaner, suitable-for-all-ages version of the video to put online. Which, incidentally, has yet to be done.

We wouldn't advise them to hold their breath.