Madonna Says Was Fined $1 Million By Russia For Supporting LGBTQ Community – But Never Paid

Earlier this week, Madonna shared a throwback clip on Instagram of herself giving a speech in support for the LGBTQ community after a concert in Russia. Madonna claimed that she was given a $1 million fine, which she never paid. 

Madonna wrote in the caption of the post, “I made this speech at a concert in St. Petersburg. 8 years ago. I was fined 1 million dollars by The government for supporting the Gay community. I never paid……………….. #freedomofspeech #powertothepeople #mdna.”

In the video, Madonna said, “I feel it in the air. People are more and more afraid of people who are different. People are getting more and more intolerant. It’s a very scary time. But we can make a difference. We can change this. We have the power.”

She added, “I am here to say that the gay community and gay people here and all around the world have the same rights – to be treated with dignity, with respect, with tolerance, with compassion, with love.”

In Russia, there is a law for the “Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values.” This makes it illegal for people to publicly support the LGBTQ community.

After her concert in 2012, a group of conservatives filed a lawsuit against Madonna, and the venue and promoter asked for 333 million rubles, which was equal to $10.7 million at the time.

However, in November of that year, the St. Petersburg’s Moskovsky district court threw out the law suit and no fine was given. 

The Head of PMI Group, which promoted the show, Yevgeny Filkenshtein told Billboard, “There was no gay propaganda during the show. Madonna just called on the audiences to be tolerant towards people of other sexual orientation and religious persuasions. We protected Madonna from all that in any possible way and dealt with the lawsuit by ourselves. The court eventually sided with us and the artist, and no fine was imposed.”