Video a ‘Celebration of Sex’--Madonna

ABC’s “Nightline” today aired Madonna’s too-hot-for-MTV video in its steamy entirety, and Madonna--the picture of propriety in a buttoned-up black dress--defended the clip as a “celebration of sex.”

“Why are we willing to deal with the reality of violence and sexism and why aren’t we willing to deal with sexuality?” she asked in an interview.

“If we’re going to have censorship, let’s not be hypocrites about this,” the pop singer added. “Why is it OK for 10-year-olds to see someone’s body being ripped to shreds? . . . Why do parents not have a problem with that?”

Her “Justify My Love” video, which was rejected by the cable music station last week, features the bra-and-garter-belt-clad singer in an encounter with a lover, played by her real-life boyfriend, Tony Ward, in a Paris hotel.

The video portrays the couple’s fantasies, which run to bisexuality, voyeurism, group sex, cross-dressing and mild sadomasochism.

“Half of me thought I was going to get away with it,” said Madonna, speaking via satellite from Los Angeles.

She said the video--with its chains, black leather and crucifixes--was about “honesty . . . and the celebration of sex. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

The video--with some naughty bits electronically altered--had appeared previously on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and on CNN. It also was shown uncensored on The Jukebox Network, a pay-TV channel.

Before it was shown on “Nightline,” ABC lawyers screened the video, said Laura Wessner, a spokeswoman for the program.

“They determined to go ahead with it because of the news value of the video, the late air time, and the focus of the discussion,” Wessner said.

Interviewer Forrest Sawyer asked Madonna to address herself to feminists who have criticized her boy-toy image.

“I may be dressing like the typical bimbo, whatever, but I’m in charge,” she answered. “I’m in charge of my fantasies, I put myself in these situations with men.”