Hours after kicking off Sunday’s 2026 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), Madonna triggered a social media meltdown with a bizarre TikTok video.
The 68-year-old “Queen of Pop” opened the show with an eight-minute performance featuring several other famous faces, including Charli XCX, Julia Garner, and Sabrina Carpenter.
Charli and Julia also appeared in Madonna’s video, which was shared at 3 a.m. on Monday and showed screaming at the camera.
The clip drew severe backlash from critics, with many expressing concern about Madonna’s mental health.
“Madonna reminds me of that 40-year-old mom who still tries to party like she’s a high-schooler,” one person said.
Madonna’s bizarre TikTok video with Charli XCX and Julia Garner made fans uncomfortable
Madonna’s TikTok video starts with Charli, wearing jeans and a black brassiere, leaning against the bed and flipping her hair back.
Madonna is seen on the bed, wearing a black latex-and-lace garment, on all fours. She makes a screaming face as the camera shifts to her.
“This is scary,” one netizen commented about her face in this scene. Another said, “Seriously weird. Disgusting behavior.”
Julia Garner, who was picked to play Madonna in a now-scrapped biopic in 2022, then comes into the frame wearing a cream-colored satin slip and does a jive.
Madonna continues to writhe around on the bed and flips her hair away while Charli playfully kicks at the camera before flashing both middle fingers.
The video was soundtracked by Madonna and Charli’s collaborative number Danceteria Afterhours, which was released over the weekend.
Some netizens called Madonna’s video “sickening,” while others worried about her age
The video drew a flood of critical comments, as most netizens said Madonna was simply “too old” to participate in such activities.
“This is Madonna trying to be cool by hanging out with youngsters,” one wrote. Another commented, “Madonna gotta be like 100 years old. She needs to f**king stop it.”
“Partying with a senior citizen old enough to be their grandmother is wild… Hollyweird rituals,” said a third.
@madonnaWork of art 🖤♬ Danceteria Afterhours – Madonna & Charli xcx
“They’re trying way too hard to be salacious, and it’s not working,” a fourth opined. A fifth said, “Madonna desperately trying to cling to her youth and fame is just sad.”
“Second-hand embarrassment,” said another person. One more wrote, “How do I unsee this?”
Many netizens also assumed that the singers had ingested illicit substances before filming the video, which made them “act all kinds of crazy.”
Madonna’s MTV VMA performance raised eyebrows about her physical health
Fans have been fault-finding Madonna since she appeared at the MTV VMAs the night before, where she got 11 nominations and won seven awards.
As the Material Girl singer took the stage for the opening act, eagle-eyed fans focused on her backside, claiming that she was either “wearing diapers” or had recently undergone a BBL.
“Definitely rocking a weird pillow b**t,” one netizen joked. Another said, “She looks like a weird little toddler.”
“Granny, please put on an outfit that suits you,” a third added.
The performance itself also drew flak, as Madonna’s facial expressions during certain dance stunts left fans wondering whether she was “struggling” to keep up with the demands of a live show.
“They’re all just throwing her around like a ragdoll,” one said about her backup dancers. Another wrote, “They plopped her on the piano like a sack of groceries.”
Madonna’s close ones do not want her to do extensive performances anymore
An insider told the Daily Mail after the show that her friends, family, and professional team have been urging her to “slow down” and “take it easy,” which Madonna knows she should but is hesitant to follow through.
“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,” the source said.
Some members of her inner circle want her to limit her shows to “no more than ten shows in ten cities.”
In June 2023, Madonna was hospitalized and kept in an induced coma to recover from a severe bacterial infection that later led to sepsis, she revealed at a Brooklyn show later that year.
“One minute I was alive and dancing around, and the next minute I was in the ICU unit of a hospital, and I woke up from being unconscious for four days,” she revisited the ordeal on Jay Shetty’s podcast, On Purpose, in September 2025.
“I got out of the hospital, they took me off the ventilator, I started to breathe on my own, and I had something. It’s called sepsis, and it can k**l you,” she added.
“Vulgurity beyond comprehension,” one viewer fumed at Madonna
