Madonna managed to boss around the entire crowd at MoMA on Wednesday night — even instructing guests including Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, Grace Coddington, Doutzen Kroes, David Chang and Jimmy Iovine on when to put their hands together by barking, “Applause moment!”
Madge was at the museum to present a WSJ Innovator Award to dancer Lil Buck, 26, whom she discovered in a contest and brought on tour.
But when the Material Girl — looking sexy at 56 in Miu Miu — didn’t get the glowing reception she apparently wanted at the beginning of her remarks, she finally sighed, “I’ll tell you when there are applause moments. You need help. This is a museum crowd.”
She then peppered her presentation with the “applause moment” command, which effectively coaxed clapping. She also warned Valentino’s partner in the audience, expert Instagrammer Giancarlo Giammetti, to “please put your phone away, sir.” And she poked fun at her predilection for seducing backup dancers by saying with a wink, “Everybody knows I have an affinity for dancers — a sympathetic nerve, so to speak.”
Buck then made a gracious, heartfelt speech and brought the house down with his moves.
Iovine and his Beats Electronics partner Dr. Dre were given an award by reclusive rapper Eminem, who explained, “Dre and Jimmy are a force of nature . . . They got me to fly here all the way from Detroit to speak publicly. And I really hate public speaking. My palms are sweaty.”
Connelly presented an award to Louis Vuitton designer Nicolas Ghesquière in front of guests Joan Smalls and Karlie Kloss and the night’s host, WSJ magazine editor Kristina O’Neill.
Guests were later invited to tour MoMA’s hot Matisse exhibition upstairs, where honoree Kara Walker, fresh from her own acclaimed Domino Sugar Factory show, briefly took off her towering heels and walked about the works in bare feet, with LA MOCA director Philippe Vergne.
Lil Buck was last seen in an intense dance-off at a Doubles after-party.
Taken from an article by Page Six
