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Madonna has come under fire for saying she "did it first" after Lil Nas X kissed a male dancer on stage during a performance at the BET Awards on Sunday night.
The "Old Town Road" singer is making headlines for the performance, with many praising him for being open and visible about his sexuality, while some are criticizing the explicit nature of the spectacle.
"it took me a lot of time to mentally prepare for this performance. while on stage i was trembling knowing that i was performing something like that in front of my straight peers. even during the performance i was having a hard time calming my nerves. thank you guys for the love," the 22-year-old tweeted following the huge reaction the performance and kiss generated.
The kiss reached the attention of Madonna, who compared it to her infamous 2003 VMA performance when she kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on stage.
The 62-year-old has upset fans, however, by claiming that she "did it first," referring to a same-sex kiss as part of a dance routine.
Captioning the side-by-side photos from both her and Lil Nas X's performances Madonna wrote: "#DidItFirst."
The comment has received immediate backlash on social media, where people are accusing Madonna of trying to steal Lil Nas X's spotlight.
Her VMAs performance is also being labeled as "queerbaiting."
"Not Madonna thinking she did something with this comment... you had your moment let a queer black man have his moment!!!" reads on tweet.
While another added: "Imagine being this big ally(?) To the community and when you see one of us do well you decide to centre yourself. If that's not an apt metaphor for ALLYSHIP."
Madonna saying “I did it first” in response to Lil Nas X’s performance shows just how out of touch some of these ally’s are with the movement.
— jr ?? (@jayjuniorrrr) June 30, 2021
Another person posted: "Madonna saying "I did it first" in response to Lil Nas X's performance shows just how out of touch some of these ally's [sic] are with the movement,"
Fashion industry watchdog, Diet Prada, also criticized the pop star for her comment and condemned her for appropriating ballroom culture and voguing in her music.
"@madonna, posting this bc I saw recently that you follow us (thx for the follow), but white women kissing on a public platform as you did at the 2003 VMAs is hardly as revolutionary as Black queer men doing so," the account wrote in an Instagram post.
"White cishet people have always been given the space to do whatever they please... including, but not limited to queerbaiting. Need we remind you that you also appropriated vogueing/ballroom culture and built a legacy on top of a foundation that Black queer and trans folks laid?"
Newsweek has reached out to Madonna's representatives for comment.
