Madonna Accuses BBC Radio 1 of 'Ageism' After Station Keeps 'Living for Love' Off Its Playlist

"I was like, 'Wait a second. Shouldn't it have to do with whether you wrote a good, catchy pop song?'" Madge said. "My manager said to me, 'If you're not in your 20s, it's hard. You might get your record played in your 30s. There's a handful of people who do -- Pharrell got lucky. But if you're in your 50s, you can forget it.'

"I didn't know it was anything to do with my age. I just do my work. We've made so many advances in other areas -- civil rights, gay rights -- but ageism is still an area that's taboo and not talked about and dealt with."

BBC Radio 1 released a statement denying the accusations, but George Ergatoudis, the station's head of music, offered a different explanation. Ergatoudis said The BBC Trust wanted the station to go after a younger listenership.

"The vast majority of people who like Madonna, who like her music now, are over 30, and frankly we've moved on from Madonna," he said, adding that the Foo Fighters and Paul McCartney have received similar treatment from the station.

"Living for Love" has received airplay on BBC Radio 2 and Annie Mac's new show, which she recently took over for Zane Lowe.

Madonna addressed ageism in pop culture in her Rolling Stone cover story, among many other topics.

Readers: What do you make of this whole situation? Let us know down in the comments section.

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