Madonna’s nipples in her braless see-through mesh top weren’t the only thing that caused a stir at her surprise Pride performance at the Top of the Standard on Thursday night.
The place was so packed that at one point, security wouldn’t even allow guests to go and use the restrooms. And one partygoer told us they had to “befriend the man with the earpiece” in order to dip out early and escape the ruckus.
Madonna and her videographer Ricardo Gomes started teasing the appearance on Instagram last week, causing thousands of club kids, scenesters and fans to rush the venue to kick off Pride weekend.
With nightlife getting back into swing in NYC, even the Meatpacking District’s rodent population seemed ready.
“People were trying to be all fabulous, dressed to the nines, and there were f–king rats just crawling around [outside on the street] at the feet of people dressed up. It was funny watching a line of people trying to be so extra. It was such a New York moment,” one Madonna fan, who wasn’t on the list and unable to sneak their way in, told Page Six.
The source also quipped of the scene: “Daddies had shirts on that said, ‘Call me daddy,’ and they thought that was gonna get them in, and it didn’t.”
VIPs such as Amanda Lepore were able to breeze through the crowd. The nightlife fixture was “let in right away” according to the spy. But the event was so chaotic inside that nightlife OGs Michael Musto and Mickey Boardman didn’t even bother to wait to enter.
The party was dubbed “Pride X Boom” — for the venue’s Boom Boom Room nickname — and took over the hotel’s entire 18th floor including sister club Le Bain.
Partygoers, however, had to arrive early in order to see Madonna up close. She worked the crowd into a frenzy when she did finally hit the stage — or in this case, the bar — at around 1:30 a.m., and performed hits like “Hung Up” and Honey Dijon’s remix of “I Don’t Search I Find.”
“To not celebrate Pride without people would have been a tragedy for me,” Madonna told the crowd.
After the show Madonna hit up Le Bain and partied with producer and DJ Kaytranada, and “had dance-offs with the kids,” another spy told us. “She left Boom Boom to go party with the real people… who weren’t able to catch her performance. She was with the drag queens and the trans people — all the kids who weren’t allowed in because of the capacity issue.”
Anderson Cooper and his ex, Benjamin Masiani, arrived with Andy Cohen.
Cooper’s CNN colleague, Jason Carroll, as well as Jon Batiste, Marjorie “DJ Mad Marj” Gubelmann and Adam Lambert were also on the scene. DJs Misshapes, Eli Escobar and Dijon — who was also celebrating her birthday — were Madonna’s opening acts. The event helped raise money for the Ali Forney Center, Haus of US and The Door.