People are cringing after video resurfaces of David Letterman asking Madonna to kiss audience member
How on earth was this allowed?
People are remembering Madonna's 1994 appearance on The David Letterman Show, and how she handled him when he asked her to kiss a random member of the audience.
This was the moment that everyone in the world learned, if there's one person you don't mess with, it's Madonna.
The 'Like A Virgin' singer came out and greeted Letterman, only for him to immediately ask her to kiss an audience member.
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Squirming in her seat, she replied, 'I can't'.
"A lot of people would cave into the pressure, they'd say, 'Oh, all right', and get it over with," David told her.
And she quickly replied: "Yeah, well I don't succumb to peer pressure."
The interview only got more awkward from there, when she added: "Incidentally, you are a sick f**k."
Overall, Madge would drop the f-bomb a whopping 13 times on the live chat show.
Not only that, but every time David made a joke at her expense, she'd call him out on it, and whenever he tries to cut to commercial, she stops him.
Today, most agree that interview is nothing short of iconic, with Madonna well able to give it back to Letterman whenever he challenges her.
"I remember watching this live and thinking how amazing she is," tweeted one fan.
"What a legend," wrote another, remembering the iconic moment.
"She was so real though," raved a third.
At the time, though Madonna's reaction to Letterman was not as well received.
Not only was the Grammy-winner booed and jeered at by Letterman's studio audience, she was regarded as difficult by the media.
Not long after the controversial interview, Madonna wrote an open letter about the response she had gotten.
"In this country you are not allowed to be a girl, look good, have a point of view and have a good time all at once. Need I say more," she wrote.
She added: "And speaking of having fun, can everyone please get over the fact that I went on TV, smoked a cigar, said the f-word a few times and made David Letterman look stupid."
As for David and Madonna's relationship, the two did seem to manage to put the awkward encounter aside.
When she appeared on his show again six years later, she admitted that their first meeting occurred during her 'rebellious period', and that she'd like to 'bury the hatchet' with him, though she did call him out for being too 'obvious' with the jokes he made about her.
"It's okay, though. We both were having a weak moment," she joked.
Meanwhile, Letterman gave an apology of his own, telling the singer: "I'm very sorry. I'm more than sorry, I'm pathetic!"
All's well that ends well... right?
Ali Condon