Madonna's concert tour made its debut on Saturday in the U.K. showcasing a video with political content that has been criticized for its juxtaposition of images including that of Adolf Hitler and presidential candidate John McCain.
Madonna who turned 50 this month, opened her "Sticky and Sweet" tour in Wales, U.K. at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with about 40,000 people in attendance, according to the Associated Press.
The controversial video was shown while Madonna performed "Get Stupid" featured not only images of the Republican senator and the Nazi leader but also pictures of global warming, floods, war, missiles, famine, and oppressed Tibetans.
In the second part of the video, the images were of Mahatma Gandhi, Beatles' musician John Lennon, Mother Theresa, Bill Gates, U2 singer Bono, TV anchor Oprah Winfrey and U.S. Democratic senator Barack Obama.
The comparison in the video was called "outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive" by McCain's campaign according to a spokesman for the Republican candidate.
For the Anti-Defamation League – whose website says it defends democratic ideals, fights anti-Semitism and advocates for civil rights – called the video "inappropriate and offensive" for invoking Nazi imagery, according to a press release from the ADL on Monday.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization, referred to the comparison of John McCain to Hitler as an "insult to all Americans," according to its founder Rabbi Marvin Hier,CNS News reported.
The "Sticky and Sweet" tour is a Live Nation production that includes 3,500 individual wardrobe elements, a traveling personnel of 250 people, 69 guitars, 18 racks of clothing for the band, 1 chiropractic and 1 masseuse among many other interesting features.
Madonna will continue the tour presentations in Europe until September 27 including stops in France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
On October the tour goes to the United States where Madonna will begin performing on October 4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The tour includes 4 nights at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 6,7,11 and 12.
