BBC Confirms ‘Madonna Ban’ Was False Tabloid Hack Job

The Inquisitr was the first to report yesterday that BBC’s Radio 1 had never banned Madonna for “being too old and irrelevant.” A Radio 1 Spokesperson yesterday told the Inquisitr that the Daily Mail, a British tabloid notable for allegedly printing false stories and getting them linked on the Drudge Report, possibly fabricated the story in order to age-shame Madonna.

“First of all, there is no ban on Madonna. Her single ‘Living for Love’ might have been available since December, but the record company didn’t start pushing it until recently. We have played the song — I think more than once. It may not be played a lot on Radio 1 right now and may not be played at all in the future. But to say the song was ‘banned’ is an incredible lie and one that some are pushing to promote an obvious agenda against Madonna.”

Today, Radio 1, dealing with many outraged music fans, went public with their statement on Facebook, according to Digital Spy.

“Radio 1 does not ban anyone — please don’t believe the papers. The tracks played on Radio 1 are chosen on musical merit and their relevance to our young audience on a case-by-case basis, and whilst around 40 [percent] of the country’s 15 to 29-year-olds tune into Radio 1 each week, an artist’s age is never a factor. In fact, Paul McCartney currently has two tracks — ‘FourFiveSeconds’ and ‘Only One’ — on the Radio 1 playlist.”

Perhaps Radio 1 should be a little more honest in that the only reason Paul McCartney is being played on their station is because he is singing with younger artists, which is completely fine in terms of marketing. In their statement, Radio 1 could have indicated that they have been playing Madonna’s “Living for Love,” but that it’s just not at the top of their playlist yet. In fact, it was just played last evening.

The Inquisitr checked the facts, and all it took was five minutes. These are the facts: Madonna is still relevant and her latest single is not only being played on the youth-oriented Radio 1 in the U.K., but on young-adult oriented stations such as Z100 (New York) and KIIS FM (Los Angeles), as well.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]