Madonna has sparked controversy byposting a photo of herself dressed in army camouflage fatigues with military police in Rio de Janeiro.
The image, taken in the Rocinha favela, was posted on Instagram and Twitter on Wednesday, two days after officers shot dead a Spanish tourist as she was leaving the slum.
The Material Girl singer captioned the photo: ‘Tried to give me ticket on my way to the moon!’ followed a moon emoji.
It prompted an immediate reaction with social media users accusing Madonna of glamorizing violence and poverty in Brazilian slums and glorifying the police.
Madonna posted a photo of herself on Wednesday dressed in army camouflage fatigues with military police in the Brazilian slum of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro (pictured)
‘Is this the cover to your new album called “Oblivious”?’ wrote one user.
Another commented: ‘Hope you were there for a good reason, there’s nothing Cool about the situation for people in the FAVELAS of Rio, it’s real sad.’
‘This is NOT a game, NOT Funny. People live in favelas and deal with war like conditions. What a ridiculous outfit!’ tweeted yet another.
However, not all the responses were egative. Several commented that they ‘loved’ the photo and thanked Madonna for visiting the favela.
The image was also posted by the official military police account of Rio de Janeiro.
Rocinha is home to approximately 300,000 people, making it South America’s biggest slum and often visited by tourists.
Social media users criticized the Material Girl singer of glamorizing violence and poverty in Brazilian slums and glorifying the police
Despite being considered one of the safest slums, it has been inundated with violence in recent weeks as rival drug gangs fight for influence. Soldiers and special forces were deployed last month to restore order.
Madonna was in Brazil this week for the wedding of her manager, Guy Oseary, and has shared several photos from her visit.
On Wednesday, she shared a photo of herself atop an art studio shaped like a crescent moon.
The pop icon also posed with pals outside of the Casa Amarela, a community center that street artist JR helped build.