Madonna was among the many celebrities attending Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington, and the “Rebel Heart” singer delivered a fiery, impassioned speech that aired on live television and contained no fewer than three F-bombs, which were broadcast uncensored on news networks including CNN and MSNBC.
Speaking to a crowd estimated at number 500,000, the fervent Hillary Clinton supporter addressed Friday’s presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.
RELATED: Chelsea Handler, Charlize Theron, John Legend And More Join Anti-Trump March At Sundance
“Welcome to the revolution of love, to the rebellion, to our refusal as women to accept this new age of tyranny, where not just women are in danger but all marginalized people, where being uniquely different right now might truly be considered a crime.” she said. “It took this horrific moment of darkness to wake us the f*** up.”
Later in her speech, she declared: “To our detractors that insist that this march will never add up to anything, f*** you.”
Madonna’s speech also referenced Trump’s upset victory at the polls when Democrats felt assured Clinton would win. “It seems as though we had all slipped into a false sense of comfort, that justice would prevail, that good would win in the end,” she continued. “Well, good did not win this election, but good will win in the end. So what today means is that we are far from the end. Today marks the beginning, the beginning of our story. The revolution starts here, the fight for the right to be free, to be who we are, to be equal. Let’s march together through this darkness and with each step know that we are not afraid, that we are not alone, that we will not back down, that there is power in our unity and that no opposing force stands a chance in the face of true solidarity.”
RELATED: Celebrities Unite With Women Across The Globe For Women’s March
Saturday’s historic march, she explained, “is the beginning of much needed change. Change will require sacrifice and many of us to make different choices in our lives. But this is the hallmark.”
She added: “I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House, and I know this won’t change anything. We cannot fall into despair.”
Instead, she implored the crowd to “choose love.” You can watch her speech in its entirety above, but be warned — her F-bombs have not been edited out.
Celebs such as an uncharacteristically NSFW George Takei and MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell took to Twitter to praise her speech, and defend her for “using words we all use” on live television.
However, Piers Morgan took an opposing view:
Morgan wasn’t the only person to point out Madonna’s inflammatory language, and Madonna subsequently issued an Instagram post to clarify her comments, with a photo of herself emblazoned with the words: “I choose love. Are you with me?”
“Yesterday’s rally was an amazing and beautiful experience,” she writes. “I came and performed ‘Express Yourself’ and that’s exactly what I did. However I want to clarify some very important things. I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in its entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context.
“My speech began with ‘I want to start a revolution of love’ ♥️ I then go on to take this opportunity to encourage women and all marginalized people to not fall into despair but rather to come together and use it as a starting point for unity and to create positive change in the world,” she continued.
“I spoke in metaphor and I shared two ways of looking at things — one was to be hopeful, and one was to feel anger and outrage, which I have personally felt. However, I know that acting out of anger doesn’t solve anything. And the only way to change things for the better is to do it with love. It was truly an honour to be part of an audience chanting ‘we choose love.'”
