MADONNA HAS DEFENDED her new video, which depicts scenes of a nightclub massacre.
The video, which accompanies new song “God Control”, was released on Youtube on 26 June.
The eight-minute-long video shows a gunman shooting indiscriminately in a nightclub. The video includes images of people being shot, dancers screaming and dead bodies lying on the nightclub floor.
The scenes in the video are reminiscent of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, which took place in Orlando, Florida and saw 49 people killed.
At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. In the video, Madonna tells viewers “we need to wake up” to gun violence in America.
The video, in which Madonna features, also includes images of guns in shops and protests against gun violence.
This isn’t the first time Madonna has spoken out against gun violence in the US. In 2018, she expressed her support for the March for Our Lives campaign and called on people to demand gun control legislation.
On Twitter yesterday evening, she wrote: “This is your wake up call. Gun violence disproportionately affects children, teenagers and the marginalized in our communities. Honor the victims and demand GUN CONTROL. NOW. Volunteer, stand up, donate, reach out.”
However, not everyone has welcomed the video. The Guardian’s Music Editor Ben Beaumont Thomas said the video would be “very triggering for anyone disturbed by the Pulse nightclub terror attack”.
Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the attack, wrote on Twitter that he appreciated the message but “please remember that there are people behind the prop you’re using”.
March For Our Lives, a student-led group that contains for gun control, did welcome the video on Twitter: “Thank you for using your platform, speaking out, and creating this call to action.”
Madonna has defended the video’s content. ”We know that gun violence disproportionately affects children and the disenfranchised in our society. This certainly inspires me to use my art and platform to advocate for change,” she told CNN.
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