Update 4:45 p.m. Monday, March 16:
The mayor of Rochester Hills has penned an open letter to Madonna in response to her comments. "We design and build more robots than any other city in North America," he wrote.
Originally posted 10:59 a.m. Monday, March 16:
Though she has showed Detroit some love in recent months, Madonna doesn't have any nice things to say about her hometown of Rochester Hills. On an appearance on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Wednesday, the singer — whose thirteenth album Rebel Heart was released earlier this month — talked about fleeing her Oakland county Catholic school adolescence for New York City.
"I just didn't fit in," she told Stern. "I just felt like I was with rich people, and I wasn't, and I felt out of place. And I felt like they were members of country clubs and they had manicures and they wore nice clothes and I didn't fit in. I felt like a country bumpkin. And I was resentful."
Asked why she didn't return to Michigan — even after getting raped in a Manhattan apartment — Madonna responded bluntly: "Have you ever been to Rochester, Michigan?"
She continued: "... I just didn't want to go back. I can't, no, I can't be around basic, provincial-thinking people."
Following the interview, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski — also from Rochester Hills — took to Twitter to defend his hometown. "Even if Madonna isn't, I am and always will be proud to be from Rochester Hills, MI," he wrote.
Keselowski's comments, and the Stern interview, are below:
My thoughts on Madonna's comments for my Michigan followers-
It's difficult growing up in a low income area in a high income town. (Cont)
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) March 13, 2015I know this first hand, that type of upbringing can give you motivation & a tremendous perspective on life. (Cont)
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) March 13, 2015It can also lead to feelings of perpetual resentment and inadequacy. All of which I can identify with when going home to Rochester mi.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) March 13, 2015Nonetheless, even if Madonna isn't, I am and always will be proud to be from Rochester Hills, MI.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) March 13, 2015
