Madonna didn't like the thought of being DixieChicked
Madonna has scrapped a video depicting her tossing a grenade at President George W Bush, fearing accusations of a lack of patriotism. Her move, four days before the release of the video for her new album, Smell the Glove American Life, comes after the miscalculation of another American act, the Dixie Chicks, at a concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in west London. AOL Time Warner, which owns Madonna's Maverick record label, was said to be growing anxious about the content of her promotional video, urging her to reshoot scenes relating to Iraq. Madonna said that, in ditching the four-minute film, she acted "out of respect for the armed forces, who I support and pray for". The move comes as the 44-year-old singer may be nearing the end of her career. Apart from being too old in a market where CDs are mostly bought by 11 to 25 year-olds, Madonna's last film, Swept Away , directed by her husband, Guy Ritchie, was a box-office flop. The new video showed her in military uniform, rapping in front of the American flag. At the end of a combat scene, she threw a grenade at a Bush lookalike. The weapon then became a cigarette lighter. Madonna explained: "It's my desire to turn a weapon of destruction into something that is completely innocuous." |