Madonna went on to explain that she found solace from the paparazzi and the tabloids only when she conformed to outdated gender narratives and married Sean Penn in 1985.

“Eventually I was left alone because I married Sean Penn, and not only would he would bust a cap in your ass, but I was off the market,” she said.

“For a while I was not considered a threat. Years later, divorced and single — sorry Sean — I made my Erotica album and my Sex book was released. I remember being the headline of every newspaper and magazine. Everything I read about myself was damning. I was called a whore and a witch.

“One headline compared me to Satan. I said, ‘Wait a minute, isn’t Prince running around with fishnets and high heels and lipstick with his butt hanging out?’ Yes, he was. But he was a man.”

Madonna’s powerful response to sexist and ageist critics who called her a “whore and a witch”