A viral video of gay icon Madonna appearing to suggest that she is gay herself has taken the internet by storm.
In a video posted on the singer’s TikTok account Sunday, she holds up a pair of pink underwear next to the caption, “If I Miss, I’m Gay!” She tries to chuck the underwear in a trash can — and misses — before the video cuts to her dramatically turning away from the camera.
After racking up millions of views, Madonna became the No. 1 most searched topic on Google in the United States at one point Monday. Social media buzzed with reactions.
“Did I just witness Madonna coming out, good for her,” one of the top comments on the video says, followed by, “Madonna has been an out bisexual for literally decades my dudes” and “Her PR team is freaking out.”
The well-known ally of the LGBTQ community and mother of six has only been in public long-term relationships with men, including director Guy Ritchie and actor Sean Penn. But she sparked dating rumors after she recently kissed bisexual rapper Tokischa in the front row of a New York Fashion Week show. They also kissed at a New York City Pride concert this summer.
Fans have long suspected Madonna is bisexual, and in a 1991 interview with the LGBTQ publication The Advocate, she said she believed “everybody has a bisexual nature.”
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi was asked in February about Madonna’s relationship in the ‘90s with actress and comedian Sandra Bernhard, who is bisexual. During an interview on Andy Cohen’s talk show “Watch What Happens Live!” Mizrahi suggested Bernhard and Madonna at one point had a sexual relationship.
The 64-year-old has been a major presence in the queer community for decades. Her ballroom-inspired — and, critics have argued, appropriated — 1990 song “Vogue” played a sizable role in what became one of the first examples of LGBTQ subculture seeping into more mainstream popular culture. She was active in the fight against AIDS and has long advocated for same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights more broadly.
“The gay community has been incredibly supportive of me,” she told Ellen DeGeneres during a 2010 interview in which she sounded the alarm about a rise in suicides among gay teenagers. “I wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for the gay community.”
Madonna’s head-scratching TikTok is just the latest example of a celebrity causing confusion about their sexuality by appearing to casually come out publicly amid broader debates about queerbaiting in the age of social media. Madonna’s video resembles another recent TikTok from actress Shay Mitchell, who played a lesbian in the teen drama “Pretty Little Liars,” in which Mitchell seems to come out as bisexual.
Representatives for Madonna did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
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