Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesBitch she's Madonna.
The iconic pop star honored Prince at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards Sunday night, but not everyone was pleased. Joining her on stage was Stevie Wonder, but even that didn't seem to make viewers enjoy the performance anymore. Madonna faced a lot of backlash from the Internet, BET (yes, the network) and other outlets, but she's taking it in stride.
The "Bitch I'm Madonna" songstress took to Instagram to defend her performance. "Anyone who wants to do a tribute to Prince is welcome to. Whatever your age Gender or skin Color," she captioned a pic of herself wearing a purple boa and a bag that has "DEALER" printed on it. "If you loved him and he inspired you then show it!!!! I love Prince 4 ever."
Afterwards Madonna posted a video of herself dancing with a rose in her mouth. "This is my 'I'm not your bitch don't hang your s--t on me' dance," she wrote alongside the video.
Although Internet critics can hide behind their social media handles, Today show co-anchor Tamron Hall told the cameras—and viewers—directly what she felt about the tribute to one of her closest friends. "I've learned to compartmentalize Prince the artist and then there's Prince the personal part of my life," she said on the morning show Monday. "I compartmentalize different things to survive [his death]."
Despite trying to keep the two Princes separate, Hall couldn't help but disapprove of the tribute. "I did not like that version. I'm just being honest, and I love Madonna," she shared. "He was just so specific. Honestly we wanted him to perform on the Today show, and it was a big deal...He was very to the letter about the audio and maybe that's how it sounds on TV. Maybe it sounded better in person."
She continued, "I'm sure she was nervous as heck even though she's Madonna. But I wasn't against her doing it, but once I heard it, I have to be honest I didn't like it."
Any tribute to the star is greatly appreciated, Hall noted, but added, "It's hard when someone is so iconic and such a perfectionist. I can't imagine being in her shoes."
Not everyone disapproved of Madonna's tribute; in fact, Questlove, who helped engineer the tribute, turned to Twitter to defend it. "Because of [Prince's] well-known love for the *poof* vanishing act, a lot of us are left feeling incomplete in the act of saying goodbye," Questlove wrote in a series of tweets. "For starters it's hard to accept him no longer being here. & in the upcoming award season for '17 there will be a gang of tributes [with] the fact that Prince -- (an on the surface) face of health & invincible agelessness [succumb] to something so....friggin basic.
"So [with] mourning will come sadness & anger. 1st week I cried. 2nd week I tried to atone for his sins w gettin 8-10 hrs of sleep he didn't get. Now anger is in the air [with] who (in our eyes) is allowed to mourn & how they are allowed to mourn.---none of us were prepared for his death."
He continued, "EVERYBODY wants and deserves a chance to say goodbye in their own way. But remember: there will be AMAs, SoulTrain, NAACP, mtv, GRAMMYS. And a gazillion other tributes. But the point is let's not get ugly w playing the 'Prince would and wouldn't approve' game. & this isn't *just about* the Madge/Stevie tribute btw."
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