Madonna's Roma appeal sparks crowd jeers

A mid-performance plea for tolerance by pop superstar Madonna was met with boos by thousands of fans attending her Bucharest concert Wednesday night.

Madonna, currently on the eastern European leg of her Sticky and Sweet world tour, paused during her song La Isla Bonita to urge acceptance of the Roma people, also known as Gypsies.

"I've never been to Romania before and I am happy to be here," the singer said, according to the Romanian Times.

"But I found out that there is a lot of discrimination against Gypsies in Eastern Europe, and that makes me very sad, especially because we believe in acceptance, Gypsies, homosexuals, people that are different. Everyone must be treated the same, don't forget that!"

Earlier, the Roma musicians and a Roma dancer who appeared during Madonna's concert received applause for their performance. But thousands among the packed crowd of approximately 60,000 reacted to Madonna's statement with boos and jeers.

The singer herselfsimply continued with her concert.

"I jeered her because it seemed false what she was telling us. What business does she have telling us these things?" said Ionut Dinu, a 23-year-old concertgoer.

Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said the singer and others had told her there were cheers as well as jeers.

"Madonna has been touring with a phenomenal troupe of Roma musicians who made her aware of the discrimination toward them in several countries so she felt compelled to make a brief statement," Rosenberg said in an email.

"She will not be issuing a further statement."

Romania officially counts 500,000 Roma among its population.But officials believe the number is significantly higher becausewith Roma facing prejudice and discrimination across the region,many do not identify themselves.

According to local media, Madonna has been keeping a low profile during her eastern European run after reportedly receiving death threats.

She continues with concerts in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Saturday and back-to-back concerts in Tel Aviv next week.