How can you go wild and not grind? That’s the question Madonna had last night for YouTube execs after the site slapped an age restriction on her sexy video for the song “Girl Gone Wild.”
During Jimmy Fallon’s Facebook interview Sunday night with Madonna, to promote her new “MDNA” album, the comic asked about the brouhaha. “Your video for ‘Girl Gone Wild,’ on YouTube [there’s an] age restriction. They don’t want the grinding and the groins?”
Madonna answered by wondering, “How can you go wild and not grind?”
But it’s more than just “the grinding” that YouTube found too racy: The steamy new video has been banned from open view on the site for scenes including nudity and a close-up of a man’s PVC-clad crotch. YouTube also took exception to an S&M-inspired scene of a silhouette in chains.
YouTube chiefs have restricted the video for those 18 years or above, and sources tell us they’ve told the superstar’s management that if they want it to be available for viewing by all, they must edit out shots of bare bottoms, a man rubbing his crotch and an implied masturbation scene where a man gyrates before a mirror.
A source told us, “YouTube has sent Madonna’s team a list of shots that should be cut to make it appropriate for everyone.”
Madonna’s team was working yesterday on an edited version of the video because, for the first time, it’s based its marketing strategy for her album on social media, including a live Twitter chat at 10pm EST tonight.
Fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott directed “Girl Gone Wild,” using much of the singer’s trademark erotic imagery, including topless men dancing in black tights (mantyhose) and platform heels.
A rep for YouTube told us, “While we don’t comment on individual videos, we review all videos flagged by our users against our community guidelines. In some cases we age restrict flagged material that, while not in violation of those guidelines, contains images that may be unsuitable for younger users.”
Madonna’s rep, Liz Rosenberg, told us, “Some things never change. This is a throwback to [1990] when MTV refused to show ‘Justify My Love.’ ”