Madonna is known for speaking her mind, even if it means tongue-lashing her own fans on occasion.
So when the Material Girl spotted a few people smoking during a sound check at Chile's National Stadium on Wednesday, she didn't hesitate to voice her displeasure.
"There are people smoking here. No smoking!" Madonna schooled her Santiago followers. "If you're going to smoke cigarettes, I'm not going to do my show."
If you love me, don't smoke, Madonna further pleaded.
But according to a video and an account in Santiago's El Mercurio newspaper, the encounter escalated as the fans continued puffing away.
"You're looking right at me and smoking cigarettes, as if I were a [expletive] idiot," the paper quoted Madonna as saying.
Despite that inauspicious pre-opening act, Madonna's show did go on. But there may be some lingering bad feelings over the incident. Among the 75 comments posted on El Mercurio's website, several readers waxed indignant over what they characterized as Madonna's "diva"-ish outburst. "I give thanks to bands like Iron Maiden that respect us as a public the six times they have performed in my country," one commenter wrote.
But other commenters defended Madonna. "Madonna was totally in the right," one wrote. "If someone comes to my house and blows smoke in my face, it's a lack of respect."
