Madonna Fined $1 Million for Breaking anti-LGBT+ Law, Refuses to Pay

Madonna has gone public to admit she “never paid” a $1 million fine for violating a “gay propaganda” law in Russia. In 2012, while visiting St. Petersburg as part of her MDNA tour, the star expressed support for imprisoned members of the feminist punk-rock collective Pussy Riot, which had criticised Russian President Putin. Madonna made headlines for using the stage to take a stand. “Show your love and appreciation to the gay community. We want to fight for the right to be free. All people should be treated with dignity, respect, and love,” she told the crowd, who waved rainbow flags and pink bracelets that had been distributed at the sold-out concert.

At the time, St. Petersburg had just passed legislation prohibiting public displays of LGBT+ solidarity to minors.

As the ‘Advocate’ reports, Madonna faced a $10.7 million lawsuit from several groups as a result of her speech; she was also called a “moralizing s***” by a public official for supporting Pussy Riot. The case was dismissed by a judge who ruled that Madonna did not violate the law since concertgoers were required to be over age 18.

Through a Twitter post, Madonna said she had received the $1 million fine for illegal speech, although it was unclear whether it was related to this suit.

“I was fined 1 million dollars by the Government for supporting the Gay community. I never paid,” Madonna wrote, along with the hashtags #freedomofspeech and #powertothepeople.

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