# “I’ve seen the Madonna Sex Show”, ca. 1990 playground boast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2026, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227 "2026-08-08T10:58:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/1 "2026-08-08T10:58:41Z")
I recall kids (with more than basic cable) claiming this. Madonna was quite the topic at the time. Did you know she said she enjoys sex? I think we were under the impression that this was typically an act one endured to procreate, and deriving any pleasure was the height of perversion. Any idea what kids were going on about re: the show? It could have just been a raunchy music video. She certainly had a naughty photo book around then but I’m pretty sure _Sex_ was in 1992, and my memories should be from earlier. But time and I don’t always see eye to eye. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/2 "2026-08-08T13:21:11Z")
In 1985, Penthouse magazine published some nude photos of her that had been taken before she became famous. It made quite a stir at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/3 "2026-08-08T13:46:03Z")
This was definitely a TV thing the kids were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/4 "2026-08-08T13:53:26Z")
Okay, perhaps a video of the tour with the famous conical brassiere? > **[The Story Behind Madonna’s Iconic Jean Paul Gaultier Cone Bra](https://www.vogue.com/article/madonna-blonde-ambition-jean-paul-gaultier-cone-bra)** > > On its 30th anniversary, Vogue looks back at Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour wardrobe. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/5 "2026-08-08T19:36:45Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > In 1985, Penthouse magazine published some nude photos of her that had been taken before she became famous. It made quite a stir at the time. I remember seeing those. I was surprised that she hadn’t shaved her armpits. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/6 "2026-08-08T19:46:04Z")
Maybe **The Girlie Show**? I recall a lot of nudity. Otherwise maybe they were confusing the book with a concert. Googling “Madonna sex show” brings up this thread. As far as things associated with sex, could be almost anything Madonna did during that era. She released _Truth or Dare_ in 1991. Could it be the often-banned music video for “Erotica”? Because they wouldn’t play it on MTV but I’ve seen it too. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/7 "2026-08-08T19:58:16Z")
From reports of that time (early 90s), she also had very risky live shows, sometimes simulating sex with dancers while wearing skimpy clothes. I never was much into Madonna, but she had a very eroticized image at the time, mostly self-inflicted. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/8 "2026-08-08T20:03:50Z")
_The Girlie Show_ was probably her most erotic live show. I’m saying it’s that or the “Erotica” music video. I was a Madonna megafan in my adolescence. I’ve seen it all. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/9 "2026-08-08T21:21:51Z")
Could it have been the video for ‘Justify my Love’? I think there was a big fuss about that in the UK at least (I was school age at the time). ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/10 "2026-08-08T23:32:22Z")
Oh, that’s probably what I meant to say, not “Erotica.” That was 1990. (My adolescence was a long time ago.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-ve-seen-the-madonna-sex-show-ca-1990-playground-boast/1032227/11 "2026-08-17T18:02:29Z")
Yeah, I believe that video was banned on MTV. And that was 1990. I would have been 15 at the time, and I definitely remember the big hubbub about it. I also remember a year later–and this is going to be an obscure reference–chatting at the lunch table about a similarly scandalous video called “Dis-moi, dis-moi” by Mistou, a Quebec artist, which was played on a broadast video channel that took requests by telephone (like via 1-900 or 976 type of number). They didn’t even censor the nudity from that one. How that got played on broadcast television here in Chicago, I don’t know, but all the boys at the school were talking about it.