Madonna Talks Lady Gaga, Kanye West and More with ‘Rolling Stone’

Madonna graces the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone and gives an open and honest interview fans won’t want to miss.

The star sat down with senior writer Brian Hiatt and had a no-holds-barred chat, touching on a range of topics from her real feelings about Lady Gaga and Kanye West to her marriage to Guy Ritchie and more.

Lady Gaga and Madonna have been the subjects of a rumored feud for years, but Madonna used her Rolling Stone interview as a chance to clear that up once and for all. “I don’t think she wants my crown…We live in a world where people like to pit women against each other. And this is why I love the idea of embracing other females who are doing what I’m doing… The only time I ever criticized Lady Gaga was when I felt like she blatantly ripped off one of my songs. It’s got nothing to do with ‘she’s taking my crown’ or ‘she’s in some space of mine.’ She has her thing. I do think she’s a very talented singer and songwriter. It was just that one issue. And everybody’s obviously run with it and turned it into a huge feud, which I think is really boring, quite frankly. And you know what? I don’t care anymore. Here’s the thing: one day everyone’s going to shut up about it. You’ll see! I have a plan.”

The superstar was married to filmmaker Guy Ritchie for eight years and she also opens up about how her provocative nature affected her marriage. “My nature is to provoke, that’s true. I can’t help myself. But it’s always with good intentions. I think there probably was a time when I was less provocative. That’s when I was married. Yeah. I don’t think my ex-husband approved of it. Or, maybe he didn’t understand it. I don’t think he understood my provocation. He was not a fan of me kissing Britney Spears onstage, for instance. Was that provocative? I think it was. I mean, now it wouldn’t be. [But in marriage,]I think all of us make the mistake of thinking we’re going to change people when we get together. But we’re not. People are who they are. And people change in their own time, you know?”

As a fellow artist who’s never shied away from controversy, it makes sense that Madonna would understand Kanye West, in a way, perfectly summing him up as a “beautiful mess.” “He’s a brilliant madman. He can’t help himself. Like, he doesn’t have the same filters other people have. He has to blurt things out – he’s always saying inappropriate stuff. But he also has brilliant ideas in the studio, if you can get him to pay attention long enough. …I don’t always agree with the things he says or does – I don’t always like his music, even. But he’s a beautiful mess. I love him…”

But when it comes to his, now infamous, award show stunts Madonna’s understanding stops there. “I think he takes award shows too seriously. I never got too engaged with who wins awards or not, because I don’t honestly think it’s that important. So that part of him I can’t relate to. Like, what’s the point of fighting for somebody to . . . like, “This person should have got it”? Don’t come to an award show looking for justice!”

At this point in her career, it’s understood that Madonna is a veteran in the music industry. She’s sustained a successful career, but still has to deal with remarks about her age because of her gender and she has no issues letting anyone know how she feels about that type of discrimination. “It’s still the one area where you can totally discriminate against somebody and talk shit. Because of their age. Only females, though. Not males. So in that respect we still live in a very sexist society. No one would dare to say a degrading remark about being black or dare to say a degrading remark on Instagram about someone being gay, my age – anybody and everybody would say something degrading to me. And I always think to myself, why is that accepted? What’s the difference between that and racism, or any discrimination? They’re judging me by my age. I don’t understand. I’m trying to get my head around it. Because women, generally, when they reach a certain age, have accepted that they’re not allowed to behave a certain way. But I don’t follow the rules. I never did, and I’m not going to start.”

Find out what else the star reveals when Madonna returns to the cover of Rolling Stone in their latest issue, on stands and in the iTunes App Store this Friday, February 27th.

Photo Credit: Rolling Stone