In an interview with Parade, Weird Al was asked about Madonna, whose fictionalized version plays a major role in the film, with “Westworld” star Evan Rachel Wood taking on the role.
Weird Al mentioned that the movie didn’t need to get permission from Madonna to use a version of her for the film, something he checked in with the lawyers about. Al elaborated that the lawyers said he was legally in the clear because Madonna is a public figure. He did, hope, however, that she was okay with her portrayal and found it funny the way he did.
Weird Al also expanded on the circumstances around getting permission to parody “Like A Virgin,” saying that because the song wasn’t written by Madonna, he never had to interact with her to get clearance to use it for his parody “Like a Surgeon.” Instead, Weird Al and his team got permission from Tom Kelly, who composed the music, and Billy Steinberg, who wrote the lyrics for the Madonna song. This means that he has no real idea about Madonna’s sense of humor.
Weird Al concluded by saying, “I really, really hope she can take a joke. I think she can.”
