Mayor of Spurned City Fires Back After Madonna Says It's Full of 'Idiots'

Madonna’s comments about her hometown on “The Howard Stern Show” didn’t win her many friends back home in Rochester Hills. (Photo by Pascal Mannaerts via Creative Commons ShareAlike Licence)

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Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan K. Barnett has penned an open letter to Madonna, who had some harsh words for her hometown last week on The Howard Stern Show, explaining she kept to herself because she “just thought everyone was an idiot.”

The pop icon was responding to Stern’s question about whether she ever thought about returning to Michigan, where she was known as Madonna Louise Ciccone while growing up in Rochester Hills.

“Have you ever been to Rochester Hills, Michigan?” she replied. “I just didn’t want to go back. I can’t be around basic, provincial-thinking people.”

“I Just thought everyone was an idiot,” she said, explaining why she didn’t socialize much and felt like an outsider in Rochester Hills.

The mayor sharpened his pen and didn’t hold back, pointing out in his letter that Rochester Hills is “home to quite a few amazing people who are known more for innovative thinking than provincial – Olympic gold medalists, NASCAR Champions, visionaries in the fields of medicine and education, and” – wait for it – “even a top selling global singer/songwriter.”

“That’s right,” the mayor told the Material Girl. “Despite your distaste for us, we actually have enshrined you on our Community Wall of Fame at the Van Hoosen Museum.”

He said Madonna’s portrait is hung alongside that of Bertha Van Hoosen, one of the first women to graduate from the University of Michigan in 1888 and one of the world’s leading surgeons for nearly 60 years.

“She was a female trailblazer in the field of medicine at the university your daughter (Lourdes) now attends,” Barnett wrote.

Just a few feet away from Madonna’s portrait is that of Helen Southgate Williams, a renowned author of children’s literature who was ultimately appointed to the International Board of Books, an agency of the United Nations and one of the highest recognitions possible in the field.

• Related: Madonna Rips Her Roots: ‘I Just Thought Everyone Was an Idiot’

“I assume that would be of some interest to a fellow children’s author like yourself,” Barnett wrote. “Two strong women, ahead of their time, and in all of my research, I could not find the terms, ‘basic or provincial minded’ to describe them or their accomplishments.

“Madonna, you have achieved unbelievable success, and while we appreciate your talent and achievement, we expect you to appreciate ours,” he wrote.

The mayor concluded his letter with an invitation to Madonna to visit Rochester Hills and see all that has changed in the 40 years since she cheered at Adams High School. “While we certainly don’t need your stamp of approval, I am quite confident we would earn it,” he wrote.

Brad Keselowski , the NASCAR champion Barnett referenced in his list of local celebrities, also called Madonna out on Twitter for dissing their mutual hometown.

“Even if Madonna isn’t, I am and always will be proud to be from Rochester Hills, MI,” he tweeted.

Barnett told the Detroit Free Press he learned one thing from his rebuttal.

“When you pick a fight with someone like Madonna, it takes most of your afternoon,” he said, noting that social media went wild after his letter became public.

• Read the complete letter on WDIV-TV.

Below are some of the tweets responding to the mayor’s open letter and the dust-up.