Madonna Says She Was ‘Living in a State of Terror’ After New Album Leak

Madonna has defended her description of the leak of tracks from her new album as “artistic rape” and “a form of terrorism.” In an interview on Sunday with The Guardian, Madonna said that following the security breach she was “living in a state of terror.”

“Obviously there is a person, or a group of people behind this that were essentially terrorising me. I don’t want to sound alarming, but certainly that’s how I felt. It’s one thing if someone comes into your house and steals a painting off your wall: that’s also a violation, but, your work, as an artist, that’s devastating.”

The singer added: “It was not a consensual agreement. I did not say ‘hey, here’s my music, and it’s finished.’ It was theft.”

Madonna said the leak had forced her to re-evaluate her working practices and security measures, particularly in the wake of the Sony hack scandal.

“You have to rethink your approach to making music, how to get the information back and forth to people, how to work in a more secure environment. It’s alarming,” she said. “People need the arts, we need to be inspired, we need to hear people’s records and see people’s films. Why destroy that process for creative people? It’s going to affect everybody.”

[The Guardian]