Madonna Slammed for Her Behavior in Musical Audience

John Benjamin Hickey is calling out Madonna for her alleged behavior in the audience of one of his performances. The actor, 57, appeared on the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen after-show Sunday alongside his Treatment co-star, Uzo Aduba, and didn’t shy away from telling a story about the famous singer when asked if he had ever been starstruck by seeing a celebrity in the audience of one of his stage performances.

“A long time ago — 20-something years ago, at the beginning of our friendship — I did a revival of the musical, Cabaret,” Hickey told longtime friend Cohen. “And I did it with the great Natasha Richardson and Alan Cumming. And one night in the audience, Madonna was there. And we were all so excited that she was there. And there were kind of lights on the audience, and Madonna proceeded to sit and braid her hair through the entire performance.”

While Hickey was able to tune out the rude behavior, some of his co-stars were far more affected. “I didn’t really give a s—,” he continued. “I didn’t care one way or the other.” The leading lady, however, came backstage with “steam coming out of her ears,” the star recalled, saying, “‘How dare she?’” Hickey stands by Richardson’s reaction there. “She was absolutely right,” he said. “If you’re gonna come to the theater, don’t sit and braid your hair. Have some manners, especially if you know all eyes are on you. So, I guess that was a version of being starstruck — but not in the right way.”

As for Hickey, the Manhattan actor said he develops “tunnel vision” when he steps out onto the stage, adding, “Especially if somebody famous is out there, somebody I respect a lot. I don’t know if I respect [Madonna] as an actor.” Madonna hasn’t responded publicly to the story, sharing sultry selfies from her time in New York City on Instagram shortly before the Watch What Happens Live after-show she captioned simply, “New Life New York Re-Invention……….”

Also during Sunday’s after-show, Aduba opened up about her storyline on Orange Is the New Black as Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren, which ended with Warren realizing how unfair the incarceration system is and coming to terms with her own unjust imprisonment. “Was I happy with the way Crazy Eyes Suzanne’s story ended? Yeah, because that was how her story was meant to complete. You know, you never know how life’s going to go,” Aduba told Cohen when asked about her ending. Asked about the possibility of another iteration of the Netflix hit show, Aduba answered simply, “Anything is possible.”