The outspoken lawmaker, Dmitry Rogozin, had tweeted a Russian abbreviation on Wednesday that
was widely interpreted as an insult aimed at Madonna.

Rogozin used the letter “b” in his tweet, which can sometimes refer to an offensive Russian
word for “whore”.

“Every former b. seeks to lecture everyone on morality as she gets older. Especially during
tours and gigs abroad,’ Rogozin had tweeted.

“Either take off your cross, or put on your knickers,” he added.

After the media picked up the comments, Rogozin said on social networking site that he did
not mean to offence and the abbreviation could refer to many things including “goddess” or
“ballerina”.

“And they immediately linked my comments with the so-called ‘Madonna’ (goddamn her) even
though I did not say a word about her,” he said.

Madonna spoke in support of the gay community at her Saint Petersburg concert on Thursday.

She also annoyed authorities earlier when she called for the release of three members of
all-girl punk band Pussy Riot, who are on trial for performing a song against President
Vladimir Putin at a landmark Moscow church.