Popsugar Celebrity Award Season Madonna's Tribute to Aretha Franklin at the MTV VMAs 2018 Pretty Much Everyone Was Confused By Madonna's Aretha Franklin Tribute 22 August 2018 by Ryan Roschke First Published: 21 August 2018 Image Source: Getty / Michael Loccisano During Monday night's VMAs, we all rightfully expected a tribute to the late, great Aretha Franklin, who passed away earlier in August. MTV could have gone many routes with this tribute. They could have had today's most soulful singers perform the legend's most popular songs. They could have invited industry friends and peers to tell their stories about the queen! They could have even just stitched together a five-minute video showing off some of Aretha's best moments. Instead, they invited Madonna up on stage to do the honour. Sure, Madonna's an icon who's been in the business for decades. Hey, I thought, maybe she'll tell an incredible and touching story about the first time she met Aretha! Reader, that did not happen. Instead, Madonna told a long-winded story about her trials and tribulations in the industry. She did mention the time she auditioned for something with an Aretha Franklin song and . . . that's about the only way the story relates back to the icon. The moral of the story seemed to be this: that Madonna wouldn't have gotten her big break if she hadn't sung "Natural Woman," an iconic Aretha song, that one time. Understandably, everyone's pretty upset. Review some choice reactions that might capture how you're feeling. I hope Aretha haunts Madonna for the rest of her life— Ki. (@LovelyandJunk) August 21, 2018 1 / 18 What is Madonna talking about? What does this have to do with Aretha? #VMAs— Brittny Pierre (@sleep2dream) August 21, 2018 2 / 18 At some point, Madonna is supposed to say something about Aretha Franklin. Still waiting. #VMAs— Alex Johnson (@MAlexJohnson) August 21, 2018 3 / 18 why is Madonna dressed like a Viking for this Aretha Franklin tribute #VMAs pic.twitter.com/62dQbmndss— Jordan (@jordansdiamonds) August 21, 2018 4 / 18 Madonna really made that speech about Aretha all about herself omg she’s gonna get dragged I can’t pic.twitter.com/yF71Ix6V8f— ale (@fivefootflop) August 21, 2018 5 / 18 Is this an Aretha Franklin tribute or a story about Madonna? #VMAs pic.twitter.com/VTuDVLPQe1— Michaela Greer (@GreerMichaela) August 21, 2018 6 / 18 Madonna’s story is hilarious. Idk what this has to do with Aretha, but I’m HOLLERING— #FreeShawn (@Sha_boogi3) August 21, 2018 7 / 18 How madonna turn this Aretha tribute into a speech about her ? pic.twitter.com/DGqhGeTCDJ— Fuck Blue Lives Joons Skinny (@joonsasshole) August 21, 2018 8 / 18 #vmas is this an aretha tribute or madonna biography— B. Thompson (@IamBThompson) August 21, 2018 9 / 18 Madonna can we talk more about Aretha tho #vmas pic.twitter.com/cB9Gjd3CkX— Mandy Pooh ♌️👑👸🏾 (@Abranete) August 21, 2018 10 / 18 Aretha looking down at Madonna : pic.twitter.com/sXVFQha8fX— BIGGAVELLZ ♐️ 🇻🇮 (@jujuofficial) August 21, 2018 11 / 18 Madonna really just stood there and made Aretha's moment about her come up story? #VMAs pic.twitter.com/B3ZEGDpqjE— Wendy WHALEiams (@ariiyonce) August 21, 2018 12 / 18 Is this an Aretha tribute or a Madonna tribute. I’m so confused. #VMAs pic.twitter.com/QcR5IWz9Mk— shavogne (@Bella_Shavogne) August 21, 2018 13 / 18 Madonna really stood up there and talked about herself for an hour and said 3 sentences about Aretha! #VMAs pic.twitter.com/gQ580ag8JE— FroPlusFashion (@froplusfashion) August 21, 2018 14 / 18 Is this Tribute about Madonna or Aretha #VMAs pic.twitter.com/ru3CJuLsVg— La La 🍫 (@0_lala) August 21, 2018 15 / 18 Madonna...you better not sing one single note of any of Aretha's songs. Not one note! #VMAs pic.twitter.com/2I0EFsK9Nr— Danny Hernández (@dannyhrb) August 21, 2018 16 / 18 ALSO WTF DOES MADONNA’S WACK ASS STORY HAVE TO DO WITH ARETHA #VMAs— Saavon Smalls (@SaavonSmalls) August 21, 2018 17 / 18 Madonna literally just made that tribute all about herself. Where was Beyoncé to save the day? Aretha deserved better than that mess. pic.twitter.com/tKOy2cCp59— alanah. (@chaostrinityx) August 21, 2018 18 / 18 Award SeasonViral VideosMTV VMAsAretha FranklinMadonnaMTV