Skip to Content

30 years after her controversial ‘Sex’ book, Madonna says Cardi and Kim K can thank her

<i>Theo Wargo/Viacom CBS/Getty Images for MTV</i><br/>Madonna during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on September 12
Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS
Theo Wargo/Viacom CBS/Getty Images for MTV
Madonna during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on September 12

By Zoe Sottile, CNN

Three decades after the release of her “Erotica” album and her lurid coffee table book “Sex,” Madonna reflected on the changing standards on how women are allowed to talk about sex in an Instagram story.

The 1992 book included nude photos of the pop icon shot by photographers Steven Meisel and Fabien Baron, as well as images simulating sexual acts and bondage scenes. Vanilla Ice, Naomi Campbell, and other models feature throughout the book’s 128 pages.

On her Instagram story, Madonna wrote that she “also wrote about my sexual fantasies and shared my point of view about sexuality in an ironic way.”

She received immediate backlash for the publication.

“I spent the next few years being interviewed by narrow minded people who tried to shame me for empowering myself as a Woman,” she wrote. “I was called a whore, a witch a heretic and the devil.”

Despite the controversy, the book sold millions of copies, reaching No. 1 on The Washington Post and the New York Times’ bestseller list.

Madonna, 64, linked her experiences to younger musicians and public figures who are able to be more open about their sexuality in public.

“Now Cardi B can sing about her WAP. Kim Kardashian can grace the cover of any magazine with her naked ass and Miley Cyrus can come in like a wrecking ball,” she wrote.

“You’re welcome, b——.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Article Topic Follows: CNN - Entertainment

Jump to comments ↓

CNN Newsource

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KION 46 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content