Madonna jokes about ‘swelling from surgery’ after Grammys reaction

Madonna joked about “swelling from surgery” after she received criticism about her appearance at the 2023 Grammy awards.

In a new tweet on Monday (20 February), the 64-year-old singer wrote: “Look how cute I am now that swelling from surgery has gone down.”

She punctuated the statement with a “lol” and a crying-laughing emoji.

In the photograph, Madonna is seen wearing ripped jeans, a black shirt, and a baseball cap.

Earlier this month, the “Material Girl” singer opened up about the backlash she received about her appearance at the Grammys.

During the award ceremony held on Sunday (5 February), the iconic singer appeared on stage to introduce Sam Smith and Kim Petras before their “Unholy” performance.

Soon after, social media users claimed that her face was “covered in plastic surgery” and suggested that she “should focus on ageing gracefully”.

Madonna responded to the criticism in an Instagram post.

Madonna said that instead of focusing on “fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim”, many people decided to criticise her appearance, which has led to support from her fans.

“Instead of focusing on what I said in my speech which was about giving thanks for the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim, many people chose to only talk about close-up photos of me taken with a long lens camera by a press photographer that would distort anyone’s face,” she said.

“Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in. A world that refuses to celebrate women pass [sic] the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working, and adventurous.”

Madonna pointed out that she’s been “degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come”.

The singer ended her message with Beyoncé lyrics: “You won’t break my soul.”