Madonna clearly pushed her on-stage Drake kiss further than the rapper was comfortable with–and the question lingers: if the roles had been reversed–if the male performer had forced this hard kiss beyond the recipient’s comfort zone–would it be viewed differently? Was Drake, in other words, sexually assaulted in plain view? Madonna told US magazine last month that “The lifelong ambition I still want to fulfill is to go on a dream date with Drake — and only kiss him.” But if you watch, as she fulfills the kiss part of her ambition, Drake resists and Madonna presses on.
The kiss starts out fine, but then a seated Drake seems to try to push Madonna away as she looms over him, thrusting her face on his. Afterwards, Drake is clearly taken aback. “Oh s–t,” Drake says, wiping his mouth off and covering his face with his hands. “What the f–k just happened?” The crowd went wild. And it’s not like the 28-year-old Drake is gonna cry assault after the Madonna smooch got dodgy. But the Material Girl, known for doing things her own way and taking what she wants, may have just illustrated a classic case of pushing past “consent.”