Madonna Threatened With Arrest In Toronto Over 'Like A Virgin' Faux Masturbation: 25 Years On, Was This Her Most Controversial Moment?

28/05/2015 14:34 BST Updated: 5 hours ago

Long before Miley Cyrus made the headlines with her foam finger, or Rihanna’s provocative stage routines had us all talking, there was only one reigning Queen of Controversy, and that was Madonna.

Over her long career, she’s pushed the envelope as far as it will go, mixing sexual and religious imagery in her music videos and stage shows long before anyone was doing it.

Whether she was rolling around the stage at the VMAs, having her controversial ‘Justify My Love’ video banned from MTV or just snogging Jesus on an altar in ‘Like A Prayer’, Madonna was the undisputed champion of raising eyebrows - but there was one notable occasion she might have taken things a bit too far.

Madonna performs 'Like A Virgin'

In fact, 25 years ago today, Madonna’s raunchy on-stage behaviour almost landed her in trouble with the law, due to a particularly provocative performance of her hit ‘Like A Virgin’.

For her Blonde Ambition tour, Madonna revamped the song with an Eastern vibe, performing it on a bed, alongside two male dancers - who were wearing conic bras, of course - while simulating masturbation on stage.

Unsurprisingly, not everyone was impressed with her not-exactly-family-friendly display, and she was even threatened by the police, before taking to the stage in Toronto, that they were prepared to arrest her if she included the faux masturbation sequence in her routine.

Of course, being Madonna, she went out and did it anyway... and the police, perhaps wisely, decided not to arrest her.

Check out the performance for yourself below...