Madonna halts Miami concert, threatens to quit show: ‘Respect me’

Madonna fired up at her latest concert in Miami, saying that she wouldn't continue the show until she was treated with respect. Photo / Getty Images

Madonna’s latest show in Miami for her Celebration tour nearly ended abruptly early after the singer stopped the show to chastise her team, saying “the show will not go on until you respect me”.

According to those present at the venue, Madonna was getting frustrated with the venue staff and her tour crew, not with the fans who had paid to attend. It’s alleged that the venue’s lack of air-conditioning was having an adverse effect on her voice.

“You don’t know how much I’ve been waiting for this the whole f***ing show,” Madonna said angrily during the third act of the show, in which she wears a red silk slip dress and boots.

“I am working my ass off, I deserve it. Respect me. The show will not go on until you respect me,” Madonna added, with the crowd cheering her on.

“I also work very hard, ‘cause I am a mother, and I am an artist. And I... am a Queen, yes. I get really mad when people don’t care about my health. This is my 71st show. And I will keep going.”

Madonna is wrapping up the final month of her huge Celebration tour, which has seen her perform her greatest hits to her fans across three continents. The tour began last October, where she performed at London’s O2 Arena, and will end on May 4 when she performs a free concert at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.

Madonna performing in London for her Celebration tour. Photo / WireImage

Her tour has been critically and commercially successful so far, with many sold-out shows, although there have been some moments of scandal for the Queen of Pop - largely stemming from her sporadic on-stage outbursts and comments.

Last month, the singer made headlines after she called out to a fan from the stage and questioned them about why they weren’t standing and dancing with the rest of the crowd. It wasn’t until it was too late that Madonna realised that the person she’d singled out was using a wheelchair.

“Oh, okay,” she said, sounding slightly embarrassed. “Politically incorrect. Sorry about that. I’m glad you’re here.”

Furthermore, last week the singer scolded a man in the audience of her Houston show, angrily telling him that he was failing to give her enough attention.

Madonna singled him out as “the guy with the T-shirt and chains that looks like he wants to get f***ed”. She then exclaimed that “while I was singing my heart out about the loss of my mother he was looking around at the crowd... not at me.”

“I’m just pointing out that I f***ing pay attention, so you need to pay attention young man!” she said.

Madonna’s Celebration tour was originally scheduled to begin in July last year, but the singer was forced to push the dates back by several months after she dealt with a shocking health scare just two weeks before the tour was going to start.

The 65-year-old singer had to be treated for a “serious bacterial infection” after she was discovered unconscious in her New York home in June 2023.