Madonna Reveals She Was Raped At Knifepoint

Madonna has revealed she was held at knifepoint and raped at the beginning of her music career.

The American pop star, who grew up in Rochester, Michigan, recounts the horrifying ordeal in November's issue of Harper's Bazaar .

She tells how she moved to New York City in the 1970s, "which did not welcome me with open arms".
"The first year, I was held up at gunpoint," she said. "Raped on the roof of a building I was dragged up to with a knife in my back, and had my apartment broken into three times. I don't know why; I had nothing of value after they took my radio the first time."

But while she was "scared s***less and freaked out" by some aspects of the city, she remained "defiant" and hell-bent on surviving and on making it.

"It was hard and it was lonely, and I had to dare myself every day to keep going," she said.
In an essay for the magazine's "Daring Issue", she described her early years as a "rebel" and nonconformist, who "did the opposite of what all the other girls were doing" and turned herself into a "man repeller".

She was considered "strange" and her unpopularity and lack of social life led to her decision to move to the Big Apple to become "a real artist" and "express myself in a city of nonconformists".

She also recalls her time in England, married to director Guy Ritchie: "It wasn't easy for me. Just because we speak the same language doesn't mean we speak the same language.

"I didn't understand that there was still a class system. I didn't understand pub culture. I didn't understand that being openly ambitious was frowned upon.

"Once again I felt alone. But I stuck it out and I found my way, and I grew to love English wit, Georgian architecture, sticky toffee pudding, and the English countryside. There is nothing more beautiful than the English countryside."

Her essay ends back in New York: "Ten years later, here I am, divorced and living in New York. I have been blessed with four amazing children.

"I try to teach them to think outside the box. To be daring. To choose to do things because they are the right thing to do, not because everybody else is doing them."

Kanye West's Awkward Encounter With A Stranger Who Doesn't Know Who He Is

Kanye West either courts controversy or is just preternaturally good at remaining in the public eye without trying to. After his feud with Jimmy Kimmel, he seemed to want to tamp downhis reputation as an angry guy by praising French paparazzi for remaining at a distance while he was on vacation. Another attempt at reaching out to paparazzi was made on video, but this time the ending of it was what got attention. A woman approaches Kanye and asks the cameraman who he is. The cameraman asks West if it's OK if he tells her. West gives her a quick handshake and enters the building he was headed to.

 But commenters on YouTube have said that his behavior suggests he is perturbed by her lack of knowledge or even heartbroken because of it. Of course, others say that the woman was a plant sent by the paparazzito rile West up.

Many commenters compared the video to one from last year, in which fellow hip-hop artist Jay Z makes the acquaintance of Ellen Grossman, a New York artist who is unaware that Jay is famous. While Jay Z's interaction was cordial, polite, and engaging, Kanye's is short and dismissive. The real story behind the interaction may remain hidden, but one thing is clear: People love to hate Kanye West.