In a level of pettiness that I can only aspire to, Pedro Almodóvar is using his time in lockdown to settle some old scores, and he has hilariously come for Madonna, accusing the singer of treating him like a “simpleton” when they met decades ago.
In an essay translated by Indiewire, the Spanish director recalled traveling to Los Angeles for his first ever Oscars ceremony in 1989. He didn’t win the award, but Madonna called him the next day, and invited him to come hang out the set of her film Dick Tracy.
They met again the following year, when her Blond Ambition World Tour made its way to Spain, but this time, things did not go so well. Almodóvar organised a lavish flamenco party for her, and invited a number of friends, but per his version of events:
“… she had already made it very clear to me that, aside from myself, she was only interested in meeting one other guest, Antonio Banderas. I promised her that Antonio would be there, but I didn’t tell her that I couldn’t invite him without his then-wife, Ana Leza, a huge fan of the singer.”
Madonna reportedly insisted on dictating the seating chart for the party, putting herself next to Antonio Banderas, and his wife as far away as possible. Almodóvar was then forced to translate the conversation between the two, as Banderas did not speak English at that time.
Things already sounded awkward enough, but then:
“At the end of the dinner, Ana dared to get close to our table and told the divine blonde sarcastically, “I see you like my husband, it doesn’t surprise me, all women like him, but I don’t mind because I am very modern.” To which Madonna replied: “Get lost.””
Footage from the party and that exchange later showed up in Madonna’s Truth Or Dare documentary, but Almodóvar says she did not seek anyone’s approval before using it:
“She didn’t ask for permission to use our images, and she even dubbed me, because my English mustn’t have been that good. I don’t mind if this seems like a settling of scores – if it had been the other way round (me filming Madonna and her team and making a film with all that material which I would then premiere around the world), I would have taken such a hit in the form of a lawsuit; I’d still be recovering from it. Madonna treated us like simpletons and I had to say it one day.”
Madonna, who has been spending the lockdown slowly marinating in a London bath tub, recently shared a photo of herself from the Blond Ambition era. It’s unclear whether or not the caption has anything to do with Almodóvar, but here we go:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-zHEyAh7Io/
