After Radio 1's head of music admitted that Madonna's age was a factor in the decision not to playlist her new single, Madonna has called the station "discriminatory and unfair."
A spokesperson initially denied that Madonna's age had anything to do with 'Rebel Heart's omission from the Radio 1 playlist, but the station's head of music, George Ergatoudis, told the BBC, "We have to bring our average age down. That's something we're very conscious of. The vast majority of people who like Madonna, who like her music now, are over 30 and frankly, we've moved on from Madonna."
In a new interview with The Sun, Madonna said: "I was like, 'Wait a second. Shouldn't it have to do with whether you wrote a good, catchy pop song?"
She continued: "My manager said to me, 'If you're not in your twenties, it's hard. You might get your record played in your thirties.' There's a handful of people who do - Pharrell got lucky. But if you're in your fifties, you can forget it.'"
Madge added: "I didn't know it was anything to do with my age. I just do my work. We've made so many advances in other areas - civil rights, gay rights - but ageism is still an area that's taboo and not talked about and dealt with."
In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Madonna said that the ageism problem was limited to women, "so in that respect, we still live in a very sexist society."
Madonna will perform a short UK arena tour in December. Full tour dates are below. Tickets are on sale now.
Dec. 1 - London, UK - O2 Arena - On Sale Mar. 16
Dec. 5 - Amsterdam, Holland - Ziggo Dome - On Sale Mar. 9
Dec. 9 - Paris, France - Bercy - On Sale Mar. 9
Dec. 14 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Arena - On Sale Mar. 16
Dec. 16 - Birmingham, UK - Barclaycard Arena - On Sale Mar. 16
Dec. 20 - Glasgow, Scotland - The SSE Hydro - On Sale Mar. 16
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