The cinema that banned Madonna for life: “She’ll need to apologise and change her ways”
Having committed many crimes against cinema over the course of a largely woeful acting career, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that a cinema slapped Madonna with a lifetime ban because she’d made so many terrible movies, but that wasn’t the case.
Instead, she broke one of the theatrical experience’s cardinal rules, and the people in charge wanted everyone to know that not even the ‘Queen of Pop’ was immune from being branded persona non grata for doing the one thing that everyone hates other people doing when they’re trying to watch a film.
The nine-time Razzie winner, and one-time Golden Globe winner, it should be pointed out in the interest of fairness, caused cinephiles everywhere to breathe a sigh of relief when she officially confirmed her days as an on-camera performer were over, claiming that there was no point in acting anymore when the critics had already sharpened their knives long before they’d had the chance to see her latest picture.
If there was an element of truth to her suggestion, then the easiest way to overcome a not-insurmountable obstacle would be to either get better at acting so as not to become a fixture of the Razzies, or at the very least, choose better scripts in which to star. Since she did neither, it seems fair to say that maybe Madonna is just a rubbish actor.
Either way, distancing herself from thespianism did nothing to dissuade her love of being an audience member, until a certain point. At the New York Film Festival premiere of Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave in 2013, the iconic musician was caught red-handed, repeatedly using her phone during the first half of the eventual ‘Best Picture’ winner.
Making the ban official, Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League hopped onto social media and laid down the law: “Until she apologises to movie fans, Madonna is banned from watching movies.” While there was a tongue-in-cheek element to outlawing one of the most famous singers of the modern era from a nationwide chain of cinemas, it was eventually accepted as a company-wide policy.
In fact, League confirmed to Deadline that she was the first person, regardless of whether they were a celebrity or a civilian, who’d ever been banned, indicating just how much of a no-no texting during a screening is, no matter who you are. “It’s been my long-stated position that it’s inappropriate in any movie, let alone in a premiere-type setting, and especially from someone in the business,” he explained.
“We actually did send a memo to all of our theatres, letting them know that if she comes in, to let her know she’ll need to apologise and change her ways,” League added, which must have been a curious thing for any Drafthouse manager unaware of the furore who was suddenly told that if they spotted Madonna on the premises, she needed to say sorry, specifically acknowledging that “texting
during a movie is rude and disrespectful to the filmmaker and the rest of the audience”, or fuck off.
