Madonna jokes about “swelling from surgery” after Grammys reaction

Madonna has poked fun at criticism of her appearance at the Grammy Awards earlier this month.

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The pop icon’s look was vilified by some people on social media after she introduced Sam Smith and Kim Petras ahead of their ‘Unholy’ performance at the February 5 music awards ceremony. People online claimed that she was “unrecognisable” and suggested that the 64-year-old “should focus on ageing gracefully”.

Now, Madonna has joked that the “swelling from surgery” has gone down.

Look how cute i am now that swelling from surgery has gone down. Lol 😂 pic.twitter.com/jd8hQyi2Az

— Madonna (@Madonna) February 20, 2023

“Look how cute I am now that swelling from surgery has gone down,” she tweeted yesterday (February 20), ending the note with a “lol” and a crying-laughing emoji. It captioned a photo of herself posing in a baseball cap and casual attire.

What happened to Madonna? She’s almost become unrecognizable.

I know she’s gotten older, but that’s not it. She looks like a different person!

What do you think has happened to Madonna?

Is that even her?#GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/nn7mIoLqGH

— The Truth 🇺🇸 (@RichTheTruth) February 7, 2023

I’m all for cosmetic surgery but @Madonna should have left her face alone after her last lift. Her hair, makeup & eyebrows make her only look worse. The mother of reinvention needs an intervention. And yes, I’ll be paying 1,300 to see her at MSG this summer. #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/PGIN5nNrfa

— Damon Gonzalez (@TheyCallMeDaymz) February 6, 2023

Soon after the Grammys 2023 and people sharing their views about her appearance, Madonna wrote online: “Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim, many people chose to only talk about close-up photos of me taken with a long lens camera by a press photographer that would distort anyone’s face.

“Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women pass [sic] the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working, and adventurous.”

She added that she’s been “degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come”.

Madonna concluded by quoting Beyoncé’s track ‘Break My Soul’, and accompanied the post with a video montage of herself with acts including Sam Smith, Honey Dijon and Cardi B.

In other recent news, Madonna joined in with the viral TikTok trend started by Netflix’s hit series Wednesday.