Madonna recently caused a stir on social media after she posted photographs of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Bob Marley with black strings around their faces. The said photos reflected the cover art for her upcoming album, Rebel Heart which is expected to drop March 10, 2015.

Twitter and Instagram fans were outraged by the obvious marketing ploy, some even tweeted their outrage to the singer while the others posted comments on the Material Girl's Instagram account.

Like Us on Facebook

Later that day, Madonna spoke about the issue and defended herself by releasing a quasi-apology about the incident. 

The 56-year old singer claimed that she was just reposting photographs created by her fans who were probably just so excited for the release of her new album. She defended herself by saying that the images are not racist, she was not even comparing herself to the historic icons but rather claims that she was just admiring and acknowledging their rebel hearts. 

"I am  sorry, I am not comparing myself to anyone but admiring and acknowledging their Rebel Hearts which is not a crime, an insult or a form of racism. I also did this with Michael Jackson, Frida Khalo and Marilyn Monroe. I am not saying that I am like them. I am just saying that like me, they are Rebel Hearts too. Also, I didn't do it--my fans did, I just re-posted these photos. My fans are not racist either and if they put me in the same category as these other people, Thank you. I am very flattered and I hope to one day live up to 1/100th of what these people have accomplished."

Soon after the quasi-apology Madonna posted two new photos, this time of Princess Diana and Basquiat with black rope around their faces.

TagsMadonna, Rebel Hearts