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St. Petersburg court denies Madonna was fined $1 million

On July 20, Madonna took to Twitter to claim that she had been fined $1 million for supporting gay rights in a speech she delivered in front of her fans during her St. Petersburg concert back in August 2012

US pop singer Madonna performs on stage during her concert of the "Sticky and Sweet" world tour at the LTU-Arena in Duesseldorf, western Germany, 2008 AP Photo/Rene Tillmann

US pop singer Madonna performs on stage during her concert of the "Sticky and Sweet" world tour at the LTU-Arena in Duesseldorf, western Germany, 2008

© AP Photo/Rene Tillmann

ST. PETERSBURG, July 21. /TASS/. St Petersburg’s Moskovsky District Court did not issue a $1 million fine (333 million rubles) to Madonna for a speech supporting LGBTQ community at her concert in St. Petersburg, the joint press service for the city’s courts told TASS Tuesday.

On July 20, Madonna took to Twitter to claim that she had been fined $1 million for supporting gay rights in a speech she delivered in front of her fans during her St. Petersburg concert back in August 2012. "I was fined 1 million dollars by the government for supporting the Gay community. I never paid," she said in the tweet that had a video clip of the speech attached.

I made this speech at a concert in St. Petersburg 8 years ago. I was fined 1 million dollars by The government for supporting the Gay community.
I never paid.................... #freedomofspeech #powertothepeople #mdna https://t.co/6wH53V4aUn pic.twitter.com/LGhV5gUerc
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 20, 2020

"In 2012, the Moskovsky District Court dismissed the lawsuit of activists against Madonna, which contained a demand for a fine of 333 million rubles," TASS was told.

Nine plaintiffs in 2012 wanted the singer to be fined as compensation for emotional distress caused by her concert. The case was heard without Madonna’s defense attorneys. The sides acknowledged back then that they were not sure if Madonna was aware of the lawsuit.

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