Life is a mystery. Everyone must stand alone. Unless you use AI to generate photos of yourself standing next to the Pope. Standing very close next to the Pope. Which is what Madonna did on Friday night, posting two images to her Instagram where she and Pope Francis are embracing, with the odd captions, “Going into the weekend like…” for one, and “Feels good go be seen…” for the other. But just like a dream, these pics are not what they seem. In both “photos,” Miss Madge is scantily-clad in lacey black while Francis complements her in papal white. While Madame X dressing provocatively isn’t anything new, her unsuspectingly dragging the head of the Catholic Church into a couple of intimate-looking poses has plenty of people upset. Let the choir sing:
The first photo depicted the pope, 87, hugging the “Frozen” singer, 66, from the side with a huge smile across his face. His nose was pressed against her cheek.
“Going into the weekend like…” she captioned the head-turning snap.
The second image showed Madonna in a lacy corset with Pope Francis seemingly going in for a kiss as he wrapped one arm around her waist.
“Feels Good to Be Seen……” the “Like a Virgin” singer penned atop the second snap.
Social media users were quick to slam Madonna over the images, with one calling her actions “ridiculously disrespectful.”
Another person wrote via X that the “Vogue” singer’s post was “creepy,” while a third unamused individual said, “This is just weird as hell… she’s lost it.”
“Disgusting! I pray her soul gets saved!” another critic seemingly shouted from behind their screen.
Page Six reached out to Madonna’s reps for comment on the backlash but did not immediately hear back.
The seven-time Grammy winner is no stranger to stirring up controversy, however, as she had done so several times throughout her career.
The Vatican once suggested that people boycott Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour due to her 1989 “Like a Prayer” music video, per Entertainment Tonight.
The controversial video featured her kissing a black saint who was wrongly accused of murder and several religious symbols, such as burning crosses.
Her commercial with Pepsi was even pulled at the time, though Madonna was given permission to share it in September 2023.
“Artists are here to disturb the peace,” she wrote in the caption of an Instagram Reel at the time, as she debuted the commercial after it sat in the dark for 34 years.
Earlier this year, Madonna was sued by a fan who attended her “Celebration” tour and accused her of exposing fans to “pornography without warning.”
Her shows surely had some punch to them — as her backup dancers were routinely filmed giving raunchy lap dances on stage.
Ah yes, I remember that lawsuit from the California concertgoer who was “forced to watch topless women on stage.” In that instance I was leaning on Madonna’s side — Celebration was her 12th concert tour, I think it was fairly predictable that Madonna would have racy material, girl. But the difference with a concert is that an audience member chooses to purchase a ticket. The Vatican may correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Pope Francis sanctified Madonna using him as an AI prop. There is so much that doesn’t make sense to me in regard to these images. What do the captions mean? She’s going into the weekend with the Pope, and he’s the only one who really sees her? Why is he seemingly canoodling with her, going off of the body language? But I think my biggest question of all is, Madge had to have known that the photos would quickly be identified as AI-generated. So… why?? What is she trying to say here? This isn’t my religion, so I’m not offended on those grounds; I’m offended by a celebrity with Madonna’s following making such a desperate attention grab. Heaven help her.
Note by CB: It looks like these photos were created by an AI/Photoshop artist named Rick Dick and that Madonna, or her social media person, just reposted them in her Instagram stories.
Photos via Instagram and credit: IPA/INSTARimages