Culture

Madonna Booed Over Appeal For Tolerance Toward Gypsies in Romania

by Yuliya Talmazan | August 27, 2009 at 11:46 am

389 views | 6 Recommendations | 3 comments

American singer Madonna got booed during her concert in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday, August 26, when she appealed to the audience for more respect towards Gypsies. Three percent of the population of Romania is ethnically Gypsy. Despite that, Gypsies are often treated inferiorly in Romania. Madonna was evidently uncomfortable with such treatment of Gypsies, so she decided to make a call for fairness towards all nationalities and everyone who is "different" during her concert. It appears Madonnas’s fans did not appreciate her egalitarian appeals, jeering her to get back to singing. The singer had Gypsy dancers perform with her at the concert. Madonna is currently in Eastern Europe as part of her Sticky and Sweet Tour.

"But I found out that there is a lot of discrimination against Gypsies in Eastern Europe, and that makes me very sad, especially because we believe in acceptance, Gypsies, homosexuals, people that are different. Everyone must be treated the same, don't forget that!"

The jeers followed after the comment.

Madonna did not react and carried on with her concert, held near the hulking palace of the late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

1 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

xiaohouzi

at 09:07 on August 28th, 2009

Perhaps Madonna should stay in Italy or Eastern Europe a while to see how life is there. Who does she think she is? Is she trying to be cool while exporting american "culture" to the rest of the world? How did she ever get famous? I have lived with and worked with Roma children in Romania and this is a very difficult situation. Even when i tried to make friends with Roma i didn't already know, i was taken advantage of and even robbed. We can all educate ourselves plenty on the subject of Roma but unless the Roma are educated, not much is going to change. Fortunately for many like the Roma i lived with, they gained knowledge about our world and now can exist in both without so much prejudice. As for the others who keep their distance from us as well as education, they will have to suffer more. In other words, both sides need to stop hating each other but there will always be the ignorant ones.

Drei (not verified)

at 00:40 on September 2nd, 2009

As a Romanian living in the UK from a very young age I have to agree with what has been said above. The Romas don't want to intergrate, even at school they hardly show up or put any effort. They will ONLY look for the easiest way, hence why crime for them is easy. They NEVER work, unless they can get others to work for them (organised crime). There is also a big different between the Romas, the poor ones and the rich ones. The rich ones got there by doing dodgy stuff in the West then investing that money back home in businesses and now becoming "respected", guess crime does pay and money can buy you social status. Some got there by becoming professional singers. Think about it, during the communist area they were dirt poor, all of them, then suddenly they have millions after returing from the West... after all it is because of people like them shops started to have security... Switzerland didn't even had tags on its electrical devices, you could simply pick a video player up and leave... that changed after the Romas started to show up (talking about 1990's and so).