From Kevin Costner to Gwyneth Paltrow, 15 Celebrities Who Did Not Like Madonna

Insulting Kevin Costner, calling Gwen Stefani a copycat, & accusing Lady Gaga of plagiarism: Madonna earned so many haters within the industry!

Middle Image Via Youtube/@TheWeeknd

Madonna’s ascent to her Queen of Pop status definitely didn’t come from building cordial relationships. From Hollywood actors like Kevin Costner and Gwyneth Paltrow to singers like Lady Gaga and Mariah Carey, there is a long list of celebrities who can’t stand the pop star. It almost appears that Madonna loves to invite trouble for herself.

Pink is the latest celebrity on the list to discuss issues with Madonna, sharing that the Like A Prayer singer doesn’t like her. Pink’s story, along with several others, proves that Madonna gets easily offended. A number of celebrities on this list broke their friendship with Madonna over the feuds, while others eventually mended their relationships.

15 Prince

Prince during his appearance on Coachella 2008 | Credits: penner, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Prince and Madonna briefly dated in 1985. He sang a duet with the singer for the track, Love Song, from her album Like a Prayer. However, Madonna later shared in an interview that Prince was a “little troll” (via Rolling Stone). She further shared in another interview in 1994 that he wouldn’t eat during a dinner date.

She shared,

He was just sipping tea, very daintily. I have this theory about people who don’t eat. They annoy me.

Prince didn’t hide his disdain for Madonna either. During a 2007 concert, he took a jab at Madonna, sharing, “I got so many hits y’all can’t handle me. I got more hits than Madonna’s got kids.“

Madonna’s approach to music was very different from that of Prince. Interestingly, they publicly ended their rivalry in 2011 when she appeared during his concert at Madison Square Garden.

14 Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani in a still from Hey Baby | Credits: Interscope

Gwen Stefani was likened to Madonna during her earlier days, which the Hey Baby singer didn’t appreciate. However, things became heated between the two when Madonna directly accused Stefani of being a “copycat”. Madonna claimed that she stole her style.

She told Evening Echo (via NZ Herald):

She ripped me off. We work with a lot of the same people. She married a Brit, she’s got long hair and she likes fashion.

However, Stefani laughed off Madonna’s claims. She shared, “Some people say that I copy her. But show me one girl my age who was not influenced by her.” Stefani, along with Pink, was asked to be part of Madonna’s 2003 MTV Video Music Awards performance (via Fox News).

13 Patti LuPone

Patti LuPone as Florence Seward in Penny Dreadful Season 3 | Credits: Showtime

Patti LuPone wasn’t impressed with Madonna’s leading role in the 1996 film Evita. LuPone had earlier appeared in the Broadway production of Evita. She told Andy Cohen during her appearance on Watch What Happens Live, “Madonna is a movie killer. She’s dead behind the eyes. She cannot act her way out of a paper bag. She should not be on – in film or onstage.”

She shared that while the singer is a “wonderful” performer, she is “not an actress.”

She also opened up about her encounter with Madonna when they were both performing at Lincoln Center in 1988. She shared, “I did meet her after her opening night party, and the only thing that Madonna has ever said to me was, ‘I’m taller than you.’ Bada-bing.”

12 50 Cent

50 Cent in a still from Power | Credits: Starz

50 Cent was accused of ageism when he branded Madonna “old” and called her a “grandma” (via Page Six). The rapper’s comments came after Madonna posted some racy shots of herself in December 2021. 50 Cent reposted her photos and wrote, “Yo this is the funniest sh*t! LOL That’s Madonna under the bed trying to do like a virgin at 63. [She] shot out, if she don’t get her old a** up. LMFAO.”

He later mocked her when he reposted her photo again and likened it to the Wicked Witch of the East from The Wizard of Oz. He joked about remaking the classic, sharing, “STARZ ask me to do a remake, I said only if Madonna is gonna play the role because I need star power and sex appeal in this one.”

Madonna clapped by posting an old picture, where they both shared a friendly hug. She wrote:

Here is 50 Cent pretending to be my friend. Now you have decided to talk smack about me. I guess your new career is getting attention by trying to humiliate others on social media. The least elevated choice you could make as an artist and an adult.

50 Cent later apologized, sharing, “I must have hurt Madonna feelings, she went and dug up a [sic] old MTV photo from 03” (via PEOPLE).

He also added,

Ok I’m sorry I did not intend to hurt your feelings. I don’t benefit from this in any way. I said what I thought when I saw the picture because of where I had seen it before. I hope you accept my apology.

However, he reignited the feud when he bodyshamed her for her appearance at London’s O2 Arena in 2023 (via New York Post). He compared her to an ant and commented on her plastic surgery, “She’s rich how the hell she didn’t get it fixed I want the fvcking doctors name right now. I mean damn it man! LOL.”

11 Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights | Credits: New Line Cinema

In his earlier life as Marky Mark, Wahlberg had an ugly encounter with Madge. According to PEOPLE, the Boogie Nights actor called a member of Madonna’s entourage “a homo.” It was also reported that Madonna gave him an attitude and told him to his face, “You’re not my friend”, after accusing Wahlberg of dissing her in the press.

Things got heated as “s*xually explicit insults” were hurled between the two. Wahlberg reportedly shoved L.A. nightclub impresario John Enos and punched Guy Oseary, Madonna’s staff member, in the nose. Mark Wahlberg later recalled the incident in a 2012 interview with Shortlist:

[Madonna] called the f**king cops on me. Told everybody this bulls story that I was doing sh*t that I wasn’t.

He further shared that the director of his 1994 film Renaissance Man, Penny Marshall, called him asking, “What the f**k did you do?”. However, she gave him the part anyway.

10 Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner as John Dutton in Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount+

Yellowstone‘s John Dutton was insulted on camera by Madonna. During her 1991 documentary, Truth or Dare, it was shown that Kevin Costner visited her backstage after a concert. He told her that her show was “neat”. Interestingly, Madge wasn’t impressed with that comment.

When Costner left, she pretended to stick her finger in her throat in disgust and shared, “Anybody who says my show is neat has to go” (via IMDb).

The Horizon actor later revealed to the LA Times that he was “embarrassed and hurt” by the singer’s reaction. He shared:

I just went back there because I was asked to go back. And I found the best word that I could. I never called her on it or whatever.

Many years later, Madonna realized that she had really hurt him and apologized to the actor on stage during a concert. Costner recalled the apology from the singer, calling it “beautiful.” It happened when he took his daughters to see one of her concerts. Costner explained to the LA Times:

And about the third song in, the lights were down, and she said, ‘I want to apologize to someone.’ And all of a sudden, my face starts to get hot. She says, ‘I want to apologize to Kevin Costner.’ She just said it very simply. Ninety-eight percent of that audience didn’t know what she was talking about. But I really respected that, and it showed me the power of just keeping your own counsel for a long time.

Costner shared that he never wrote Madonna to say thank you, but added that he appreciated the apology from the bottom of his heart.

9 Sinead O’Connor

Sinead O’Connor during her infamous appearance on SNL | Credits: NBC

The late musician Sinead O’Connor was known for her controversial life and activism as much as her music. We remember her infamously ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II during her live SNL performance (via Spin/YouTube).

Interestingly, Madonna criticized her SNL stunt during an interview with the Irish Times. She shared, “I think there’s a better way to present her ideas rather than ripping up an image that means a lot to other people” (via The Independent).

She later mocked it during an appearance on SNL, ripping a photo of notorious r*pist Joey Buttafuoco.

However, the feud between O’Connor and Madonna began way before the SNL incident. O’Connor accused Madonna of being abusive towards her. She claimed that the Hung Up singer made fun of her short hair. She told Spin magazine:

Madonna is probably the hugest role model for women in America. There’s a woman who people look up to as being a woman who campaigns for women’s rights. A woman who, in an abusive way toward me, said that I look like I had a run-in with a lawnmower and that I was about as sexy as a Venetian blind.

O’Connor further shared, “Now there’s the woman that America looks up to as being a campaigner for women, slagging off another woman for not being sexy.” O’Connor passed away in 2023 at the age of 56.

8 Courtney Love

Courtney Love in the music video of Malibu | Credits: DGC Records

It’s hard to forget the moment when Courtney Love threw a make-up compact at Madonna on live television. During the 1995 MTV VMAs, Love crashed Madonna’s interview with Kurt Loder. The Mono singer kept throwing more make-up compacts, while Madonna retorted, “Courtney Love’s in dire need of attention right now.”

She then complained that the Popular singer had been “mean to her”. Madonna responded, “I haven’t been mean to anybody, I never said anything bad about you.” During the tense encounter, Madonna seemed very unimpressed, even taking a jab at Love’s drug problems. Love was later escorted away from the interview by her PR team.

It has been three decades since that interview, and it appears that the feud hasn’t died down between the two. During a 2024 interview with The Standard, she shared, “I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me. I loved Desperately Seeking Susan, but for the city of New York as much as her.”

7 Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey in the music video of All I Want for Christmas Is You | Credits: Columbia Records

Madonna and Mariah Carey had no respect for each other’s style of music. Their feud was initiated in the ’90s, when Madonna bashed Carey’s “silly pop songs”. She shared with Spin:

I think she’s a very talented singer – but we have to realize that the same country that acquitted O.J. is the same country that makes a complete piece of sh*t movie number one, that buys Mariah Carey records. It’s this homogeneity. But it’s got nothing to do with art.

When asked if she wished she were Carey, “just singing silly pop songs”, Madonna responded, “I’d kill myself.” When MTV News brought Madonna’s dig to Carey’s attention, she just shrugged it off. Carey shared:

I really haven’t paid attention to Madonna since I was in like, seventh or eighth grade when she used to be popular, so I didn’t hear that.

Carey also made subtle digs at Madonna’s British accent after the latter’s marriage to Guy Ritchie. In this video, she allegedly mocks Madonna during several interviews, though she does not mention her by name.

6 Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson in her documentary | Credits: A&E/Lifetime

A rivalry between Madonna and Janet Jackson was so obvious because they were both after the Queen of Pop title. According to Jermaine Jackson’s book, You Are Not Alone, Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes, Madonna dated Michael Jackson in the early ’90s. Their relationship allegedly ended when the Material Girl singer criticized Janet.

During an interview with Vibe in 1994, Jackson stated that she didn’t hate Madonna, but added that he had “valid reasons” to do so (via Global Grind). During another interview, she was asked whether she would go “head to head” with Madonna. She shared:

It’s dance music, I’ll say that, which is very similar. I think… How do I put this? I think what I do has class to it. I’ll say that.

Madonna was asked about Jackson’s diss during an interview with Kurt Loder. She shared that she had “never met the woman” and didn’t “know anyone she knows.” She shared that she was “mystified” by Jackson’s comments.

While Madonna defended Jackson’s Nipple-gate incident during Super Bowl 2004, she later took a dig at Jackson and the incident during her performance at Super Bowl 2012. She shared (via Us Weekly):

I have not mainstreamed and I’m not planning anything naughty. I’m planning something super entertaining. You don’t have to show nipples to be interesting or and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re cutting edge if you do right?

She once commented during an interview that Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston “can’t do what I do.”

5 Elton John

Elton John during his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Credits: ABC

The feud between Elton John and Madonna kicked off when he called Madonna’s Die Another Day “the worst Bond tune ever” in 2002 (via CBS News). Later in 2004, he went after the singer again when he bashed her nomination for Best Live Act at the Q Awards.

He shared:

Madonna, best live act? F*** off. Since when has lip-syncing been live? Anyone who lip-syncs in public on stage when you pay 75 pounds to see them should be shot.

Madonna’s publicist responded to the comments, “Madonna does not lip-sync nor does she spend her time trashing other artists.” John later regretted his comments, sharing, “It was something I said in the heat of the moment, and probably should not have said.” It was reported that Madonna declined an invitation from John to perform at his bachelor party.

John and his husband, David Furnish, weren’t happy when the Vogue singer beat him to win the Best Original Song category at the 69th Golden Globes. Furnish commented, “Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit. Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism” (via THR).

Madonna in the music video of Like a Prayer | Credits: Warner Bros.

When Madonna took a jab at Lady Gaga, John came to her defence. He shared with an Australian channel in July 2012, “Why is she such a nightmare? Sorry, her career is over. Her tour has been a disaster and it couldn’t happen to a bigger b*tch… And she looks like a f**king fairground stripper” (via ABC News).

After a decade of feuding with her, John told Graham Norton in 2016 that they were done with the feud. He revealed the story of reconciling with her, sharing (via Daily Mail):

I was in a restaurant in the south of France a couple of years ago and she walked in so I sent her a note saying, ‘You’ll probably never speak to me again but I am really sorry and ashamed of myself and can I buy you dinner.’ She was very gracious and accepted and we talked. We are fine—it was just me and my big mouth.

In his memoir, Me, he defended calling out Madonna over her behaviour with Lady Gaga. He wrote, “I think it’s just wrong — an established artist shouldn’t kick down a younger artist right at the start of their career” (via W Magazine).

During their recent reunion on SNL, they truly buried the hatchet. Madonna posted a pic with John and wrote on Instagram, “We finally buried the hatchet. I went to see Elton John perform on SNL this weekend!! WOW.”

4 Cher

Cher as Florence “Rusty” Dennis in a still from Mask | Credits: Universal Pictures

Cher did not hold back on her thoughts about Madonna in the ’90s. The Believe singer initially had no bad things to say about her. For instance, in a 1989 press conference, she shared that Madonna was “very talented”, making it clear that she had no intention of trashing her. However, her stance changed in a couple of years.

During a 1991 interview with Steve Kmetko, she shared that she respected Madonna for a lot of things, including her knowledge of how to work the business like no one else before her. However, she also added that she didn’t like one thing about her, “She’s…mean. I don’t like that.”

Cher got to witness Madonna’s “rude” behavior when she invited the Frozen singer to her house. Cher explained that she was friends with Madonna’s then-husband Sean Penn. She shared that the young singer acted like a “spoiled brat”. She shared:

I remember having her over to my house a couple of times, because [Sean Penn] and I were friends, and she just was so rude to everybody. She acts like a spoiled brat all the time. And it seems to me when you reach the kind of acclaim that she’s reached — and you can do whatever you want to do — you should be a little bit more magnanimous, and little bit less of a c**t.

During another interview with Terry Wogan in 1991, she shared that her feud with Madonna was blown way out of proportion. When Wogan asked whether she goes jogging “like Madonna”, Cher sarcastically replied, “Do you mean like my best friend Madonna?”.

She shared that she answered some questions during an interview, where she stated, “She’s unbelievably creative because she’s not unbelievably talented, she’s not beautiful, but she’s kind of—she’s rude…” However, Cher told Wogan that she “really doesn’t have anything against her.”

It appears that Cher didn’t hate Madonna in the 2000s and 2010s as much as she did in the ’90s. During her appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, he brought up a 2012 tweet of the Moonstruck actress. When a fan asked her how she celebrated Madonna’s birthday, she replied, “I got a colonic.” Cher laughed it off, sharing, “I’m totally good with Madonna.”

In 2017, she and Madge posed together for a photo when they appeared at the Women’s March (via Billboard). When she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018, she had to quickly name three singers she would duet with. Cher replied, “Adele, Pink, and… and not Madonna!”

3 Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola de Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love | Credits: Miramax Films

Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna were close before reports came out in 2010 that they had a falling out. Paltrow and Madonna lived in the U.K. before their falling out, with their English husbands, Chris Martin and Guy Ritchie. Us Weekly reported at the time, “They don’t speak,” with a source quoting, “I can’t tell you exactly why they had the falling out” (via Daily Mail).

The report emerged after Paltrow hinted at issues with a friend during her interview with Vogue UK. She shared in the interview (via LaineyGossip):

I can be mean. I can cave in to gossip. I can ice people out and I can definitely harbor revenge. In fact, I’m having a situation right now with a friend where I’m feeling pretty angry. But revenge is corrosive and it doesn’t make me feel good.

In the same interview, she mentioned Madonna’s name when talking about their personal trainer, Tracy Anderson. She shared, “It’s good that [Anderson] doesn’t train Madonna anymore. It was too much. She keeps people waiting—it takes up your whole day.”

It was suggested that Madonna’s separation from Ritchie ended their friendship. Another source told Us Weekly that Madonna was allegedly mistreating Paltrow. The source shared, “Madonna would s**t on her, over and over” (via Celebitchy). It was also suggested that the singer felt that her friend had abandoned her.

However, a spokesperson for Madonna told the Daily Mail at the time, “There has been no falling out between the two.”

2 Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga as Lee Quinzel in a still from Joker: Folie à Deux | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

Lady Gaga and Madonna seemed to have a cordial relationship initially. Fans began comparing the two icons on the internet, and they were convinced that Gaga was the new Madonna of our age. It also led to rumors that they were feuding because Madonna didn’t enjoy the similarities.

When fans started to believe there was no bad blood between the two, Madonna dissed Gaga in real life. During an interview with ABC News, she was asked about fans accusing Gaga’s Born This Way of being a copy of her song Express Yourself. Madonna called Gaga’s music “reductive” when compared to hers.

During her MDNA Tour in 2012, Madonna performed a mashup of Express Yourself and Born This Way, further adding fuel to the plagiarism rumors. However, things seemed back to normal when Gaga and Madge were seen posing together at the Met Gala with Katy Perry in 2015 (via Billboard).

However, Gaga brought up her annoyance with the comparisons during a 2016 interview on Beats 1 Radio. She shared (via Billboard):

Madonna and I are very different… I wouldn’t make that comparison at all. I don’t mean to disrespect Madonna… But I play a lot of instruments. I write all my own music. I spend hours and hours a day in the studio. I’m a producer. I’m a writer… What I do is different.

I’m not just rehearsing over and over again to put on a show. There is a spontaneity to my work. I allow myself to fail. I allow myself to break. I’m not afraid of my flaws… I just will not be compared to anyone anymore, I am who the f**k I am and this is me.

She addressed Madonna’s remark, calling her music reductive, in her 2017 Netflix documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two. She shared with a friend in the movie:

The only thing that really bothers me about her is that I’m Italian and from New York, you know. So, like, if I’ve got a problem with somebody I’m gonna f—ing tell you to your face. But, no matter how much respect I have for her as a performer, I could never wrap my head around the fact that she wouldn’t look me in the eye and tell me that I was reductive or whatever.

Their feud was reignited when Madonna accused Gaga of copying a quote from her. During the promotions of A Star Is Born, Gaga used the quote, “There can be 100 people in a room and 99 of them don’t believe in you, but all it takes is one and it just changes your whole life” (via W Magazine).

Madonna posted an Instagram story where she shared a similar quote during an interview in the ’80s. It led to the fans of both singers clashing online. However, it appeared that they put this feud behind them. They posed together for a photo at the 2019 Oscars afterparty.

1 Pink

Pink in the music video of So What | Credits: LaFace

During her recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Pink detailed her hate relationship with her childhood icon, Madonna. She told Stern during the interview, “Madonna doesn’t like me.” She further shared, “Some people just don’t like me. I’m a polarizing individual.”

She brought up how she used to idolize her, sharing, “She is… man… F**k I loved her.” She shared the reason why she believed Madonna doesn’t like her, sharing, “She tried to kind of play me on Regis And Kelly and I’m not the one so. I didn’t work out.”

When Stern pressed for more details, she shared:

She was such an inspiration to me, but it sort of got twisted around that I was like fangirling and was dying to meet Madonna, when in actuality she invited me into her dressing room. And so, I just said a joke when Regis brought me out and said, ‘I heard you were just falling over yourself backstage [at a Madonna show]. How does it feel?’ I’m like, ‘I thought she wanted to meet me.’ It didn’t work out for us.

When Stern stated that Madonna “took the joke personally”, Pink agreed. She had earlier revealed that she and Stefani were invited to join her at the VMAs in 2003. However, it didn’t happen. Madonna has yet to explain her side of this feud.