Friday, 20 October 2006

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Madonna special won't have crucifixion scene

Crucifixion cut out of TV concert screening

NBC will air Madonna: The Confessions Tour – Live From London after all – but without the scene in which Madonna sings "Live to Tell" while suspended from a giant cross, a rep for the network confirms to PEOPLE.

The decision was made in collaboration with Madonna, who is an executive producer of the special, the NBC spokesperson said.

Last month, the New York Daily News reported that the crucifixion scene, which has sparked outrage among religious leaders in the U.S. and in Europe, might cause NBC to scrap the planned special.

"NBC is awaiting delivery of the special," a network rep told the Daily News at the time. "Once we see it in its entirety, we'll make a final decision."

Madonna has defended the crucifixion scene as part of her appeal to audiences to donate to AIDS charities. "I don't think Jesus would be mad at me and the message I'm trying to send," she told the Daily News in May.

In other Madonna news, a rep for the singer, who recently gained interim custody of a 1-year-old boy from Malawi whom she is planning to adopt, has denied reports that Madonna is already hoping to adopt a little girl from the African country.

"Madonna is going to be focused on her new baby," Liz Rosenberg tells PEOPLE. "I don't think they have any plans to add to the family after this."