Madonna’s Family Step In After Embarrassing VMAs Comeback

Madonna’s return to the MTV Video Music Awards stage was expected to be a triumphant one. Twenty-three years after sharing her infamous onstage kiss with Britney Spears, the singer came back to open the ceremony.

Yet while Madonna’s past VMA appearances sparked a mixture of praise and shock, the prevailing reaction to her 10-minute Sunday night medley was concern.

The performance was packed with star power. The 68-year-old Queen of Pop was joined by pop stars Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX for songs from her latest album, Confessions II.

Longtime friend Debi Mazar also made an appearance, as did actress Julia Garner, who had previously been expected to portray Madonna in the now-canceled biopic about her life.

However, the high-profile cameos did little to overshadow concerns about Madonna’s performance. Jerky movements, apparent physical discomfort and a heavily strapped left knee contributed to a showing that appeared markedly different from the electrifying displays that established her reputation. Some fans also accused her of lip-syncing.

The unease continued when a joke about removing a prop laser from her “a**” failed to land. Later, as she accepted the Best Dance award—one of seven honors that made her the night’s biggest winner—she appeared uncertain about which prize she was receiving. The moment left viewers asking: Is Madonna okay?

Sources close to the singer told the Daily Mail that people around Madonna have been urging her to slow down. “She is having everyone around her tell her to actually slow down. She says she has more energy than ever, but her family and friends are saying, ‘Take it easy,’” the source said.

Despite those concerns, the source said Madonna was “showing signs of wanting to hit the road” for a tour supporting her new album.

For members of her inner circle, the chaotic VMA appearance was reportedly another troubling episode suggesting that the famously hands-on star is unwilling—or unable—to slow her pace.

Questions about the pop icon’s health have intensified in recent years. In a podcast interview with Jay Shetty last year, Madonna revealed that she had been hospitalized with sepsis in 2023, spending four days unconscious, on a ventilator and in an induced coma for 48 hours.

Her longtime manager, Guy Oseary, said at the time that Madonna had been “rushed to hospital and intubated after being found unresponsive.”

Although Oseary said she was expected to make a full recovery, the medical emergency alarmed fans as Madonna prepared for a planned 40th anniversary tour.

The singer’s condition was reportedly so grave that relatives were “preparing for the worst,” a family member told the Daily Mail shortly after her hospitalization.

Her tour was subsequently postponed. During her first performance in 2024, Madonna reflected on what she described as a “near-death” experience.

“I’m pretty sure that was God saying to me, ‘Do you want to come? Want to come up with me?’” she recalled, adding that she replied, “No!”

“I would call in every other day and ask [my doctor] why I didn’t have any energy, when was my energy going to come back? When was I going to feel like myself again? When can I go on tour again?” she said.

Truth be told, the Daily Mail’s source admitted, despite her insistence that everything is fine those close to Madonna are aware that, if there is a tour, it may have to be ‘different than anything she’s done in the past’ to accommodate the singer’s current physical limitations.

The source said: ‘There’s a big debate between her and her team as to how the format of the show will be.

‘She wants to do something big but knows the reality that she can’t do the more extensive tours that she’s done in the past, probably because in some of her more recent concerts, it was too taxing for her.

‘I think she wants to scale it down, but the people around her are probably not wanting her to do anything at all other than a very small and limited run with no more than ten shows in ten cities.’

It’s hard not to see the pop icon’s latest output, from the new album to her VMAs appearance to a reported new music video expected in October, as a final bid at legacy building as she enters her fifth decade as one of the world’s most preeminent performers.

For years, it looked like she would achieve that with a biopic of epic proportions – one which she planned to write and direct herself. The project, which would focus on the story of her ascension to pop royalty, was initially greenlit with Universal Studios but was reportedly scrapped in 2023, due to what the singer said was a ‘falling out’ with Universal over budget.

‘We had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget,’ Madonna told Interview Magazine in June. ‘I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget… they couldn’t get their heads around it.’

According to another source close to Madonna, the singer hasn’t given up on making the biopic happen. They exclusively shared that the new album’s success has ‘revived interest in it,’ including sparking curiosity from Warner and production company A24.

‘Madonna was upset by the halting of the biopic but is quietly trying to find a new home for it because she really believes in it,’ the source told the Daily Mail.

For the pop queen, maintaining control over her story and the project is of the utmost importance, especially after seeing what’s happened to the narratives of her friends in the industry, like Michael Jackson.

‘She is a control freak but has to be because she has seen what has happened to her peers who weren’t in control of their story,’ the source said.

‘She saw a really dreadful Michael Jackson TV biopic and is concerned that a low budget may lead to something similar, so will not settle on a lowly production budget because the movie has to cover all her eras.’

Representatives for Madonna have been contacted for comment.

The first source is confident that despite her seeming exhaustion at the VMAs, Madonna still has what it takes to get what she wants, whether it’s getting her movie made or going on tour.

‘Madonna is full of energy,’ the source said. ‘She just wants to get right straight back to work.’