LIKE A SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING
Fans are less than impressed with the Queen of Pop’s new unhealthy habit.
In an Instagram reel posted by Women’s Wear Daily on June 23, Madonna is shown smoking what appears to be a long cigarette or cigarillo alongside Charli XCX, 33, and Connor Storrie, 26, who starred in the 2025 sports-romance series Heated Rivalry.
WWD’s video shows the 67-year-old “Material Girl” singer, who is dressed in a hot-pink, long-sleeved lace mini dress, taking a few rips.
Madonna poses for the flashing cameras as she observes Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Lauren Spring/Summer 2027 collection on day one of Spring/Summer Paris Fashion Week.
Viewers were less than thrilled by her smoky display, and the consensus quickly turned critical.
“Smoking cigarettes will never be cool, no matter who does it,” one person wrote.
Another commenter added, “It’s 2026. Why are we trying to make smoking ‘chic’ again?”
Many remarked that smoking cigarettes—and smoking, in general—“is not cool,” noting the myriad health problems that stem from the habit.
Charli, dressed in a red Anthony Vaccarello slip dress, was filmed from a different angle and posted by New Religion Magazine.
After Charli XCX exhaled a cloud, she was met with waving, coughing, and disgust from 61-year-old French actress Debi Mazar, a longtime friend of Madonna who was sitting beside her.
The young artist’s smoking habit is well-established, having been recorded puffing from a cigarette mid-performance at a Manchester concert in 2024. She reportedly served Vogue Essence Bleue (a slim cigarette) on silver platters at her 2025 wedding to George Daniel, drummer for the English rock band The 1979. On Reddit, fans speculate over her favored tobacco brand.
A few months prior to the runway display, Charli XCX and Madonna were reportedly on rocky terms. The British singer released a single titled “Rock Music,” in which she sings, “I think the dance floor is dead / so now we’re making rock music.”
Madonna responded to the lyric on May 20 with an Instagram carousel of her posing for multiple photos and the caption, “If your dance floor feels dead, maybe you’re playing the wrong music.”
The video doesn’t disclose whether the women are smoking a tobacco cigarette or a cigarello (a short, narrow cigar without a filter). Regardless of the medium, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative and, as some commenters pointed out, contradicts Madonna’s past statements.
In 2012, Madonna proclaimed her distaste for cigarettes, notably when her daughter, Lourdes Leon, then 15, was photographed indulging in one.
During an episode of the Today show, host Harry Smith inquired about her reaction to the incident.
The mother of six responded calmly, speaking in third person: “She wasn’t very happy.”
“Are you a tough mom?” Smith pressed.
“Yeah, I think I am, but honestly, I don’t think I’m as tough as I should be,” Madonna answered.
She continued, “It’s hard though; it’s hard, every day is a negotiation, but cigarette smoking I’m not very fond of… for anyone. I don’t approve of anyone smoking cigarettes.”
The singer, however, has previously posed with tobacco products—and not just when portraying characters who smoke, like in 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan.
In early June, she shared a video from her bathroom floor in which she takes a drag from a blunt while wishing fans a happy Pride Month.
There has been a noted rise in smoking on television and in films since 2024. That year, nine out of 10 nominees for Best Picture at the Academy Awards contained tobacco.
