Not only has Madonna dubbed her forthcoming TV special Live to Tell, but the one-named wonder is now incurring the wrath of religious leaders the world over.
What is this, 1986?
Rome's Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders have banded together to bash the Material Girl for moving forward with plans to perform a mock-crucifixion at her stage show there on Sunday.
Father Manfredo Leone of Rome's Santa Maria Liberatice church told Reuters that the pop star's latest shock shtick, namely being suspended on a 20-foot mirrored cross while donning a crown of fake thorns, "is disrespectful, in bad taste and provocative."
"Being raised on a cross with a crown of thorns like a modern Christ is absurd," Leone said. "Doing it in the cradle of Christianity comes close to blasphemy."
Further inflaming the situation is the fact that Madonna's show is set to take place at Rome's Olympic Stadium, which, at just a mile away from the gates of Vatican City, is a bit too close for comfort for the religious leaders.
"I think her idea is in the worst taste and she'd do better to go home," Mario Scialoja, the head of Italy's Muslim League told the news service.
Riccardo Pacifici, the spokesman of the Roman Jewish community, agreed, telling Reuters that Madonna should pull the offending routine from the Rome show.
But the singer's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, pooh-poohed the complaints. "Madonna does not think Jesus would be mad at her, as his teaching of loving thy neighbor and tolerance is Madonna's message as well," Rosenberg said in a statement. "The context of Madonna's performance on the crucifix is not negative nor disrespectful toward the church."
Nonetheless, courting controversy, particularly the religious kind, is a bit of a pastime for the Kabbalah convert.
Her Jesus-channeling performance irked Catholics both Stateside and in her adopted home of England when she debuted the routine on the North American leg of her Confessions tour in May.
The Church of England denounced the performance before it even hit their shores, asking "why would someone with so much talent seem to feel the need to promote herself by offending so many people?"
Meanwhile, Catholic League President Bill O'Donohue told the singer to "knock off the Christ-bashing. It's just pathetic."
It's not the first time a Madonna tour has drawn the ire of the church. In 1990, no less a leader than the pope himself called for a boycott of the Blond Ambition tour because of her salacious "Like a Virgin" choreography.
Prior to that controversy, the Vatican voiced protests to the icon's "Like A Prayer" video, which featured burning crosses and a black Jesus figure.
For her part, Madonna defended the set piece's imagery by saying its part of an appeal to her audience to get concert-goers to donate to AIDS charities.
The 47-year-old shock vet performs the '80s ballad "Live to Tell" while descending on the cross, with images of Third World poverty and numbers representing the 12 million children orphaned by AIDS in Africa displayed on a screen behind her.
Bringing awareness to the plight has long been a pet project of the Grammy winner, who recently detailed the extent of her commitment to Time magazine.
The Queen of Pop has announced plans to raise at least $3 million to aid orphans in Malawi, with the money going toward a care center, as well as improved economic, food and health programs for the area.
The center, which breaks ground next week, is expected to feed and educate up to 1,000 Malawi children.
"For the last few years--now that I have children and now that I have what I consider to be a better perspective on life--I have felt responsible for the children of the world," she told the magazine.
"I've been doing bits and bobs about it and I suppose I was looking for a big, big project I could sink my teeth into."
In addition to the fundraising and the new center, Madonna is also financing a $1 million documentary about the region's orphans, and has met with President Bill Clinton and other prominent officials about bringing low-cost medicine to the region.
The pop star is expected to touch down in Africa in October to oversee the center's development. The final leg of her Confessions tour ends Sept. 21 in Japan.
Madonna's primetime concert special, Live To Tell, airs on NBC this November.