Madonna Covers Elliot Smith In Handcuffs For Secretprojectrevolution Premiere In NYC [Video]

Madonna covered respected singer/songwriter Elliot Smith last night in New York City as part of her secretprojectrevolution short film premiere.

Madonna Covered Elliot Smith At The Exclusive Gig.

The 55 year-old singer was roughly dragged on stage by two policemen whilst in handcuffs. She was thrown, kneeling on to the floor and had a microphone shoved into one of her hands that had come free. Beginning off-key and unsteady at first, Madonna began to sing a cover of Smith's 'Between The Bars' to a melancholic piano accompaniment.

A dancer, said to be Madonna's son Rocco, dressed in black and wearing big boots and a balaclava appeared and began to dance, silhouetted. He moved to un-cuff Madonna and she rose whilst the dancer moved in circles.

The performance was part of secretprojectrevolution, and was the beginning of her new Art For Freedom Initiative in conjunction with Vice Media. Including the performance, the premiere also comprised of a 17 minute-long film posted online at midnight via Bittorrent which begins with a quote from Jean-Luc Godard, "All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl."

Madonna's Performance Was Part Of Her Arts For Freedom Project.

The film, co-directed by photographer Stephen Klein, features Madonna as said gun-toting girl and employs some disturbing gothic imagery as well as a thought-provoking interpretation of 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee.'

In a statement, Madonna explained the bold new arts project: "My goal is to show by the example of secretprojectrevolution my creative commitment to inspire change in the world through artistic expression. I hope my film and other submissions to Art for Freedom will be a call to action and give people a place to voice their own creative expression to help fight oppression, intolerance and complacency."

Madonna's Used To Making A Scene With Her Daring Looks.

At the premiere's afterparty, Madonna ran into her ex-husband, actor Sean Penn. The pair greeted each other warmly, hugging and kissing and looking delighted to be in each other's company despite having divorced 24 years ago. Madonna's boyfriend, Brahim Zaibat was nowhere to be seen but Madonna wasted no time in mingling with friends old and new.

Last October, eyebrows were raised after Penn attended Madonna's MDNA concert at the LA Staples Center. According to the Daily Mail's source, Madonna "seemed to be performing entirely for Sean and their chemistry was off the charts." The insider added "He was saying things like "Amazing!" and "She's so hot!'"

Watch A Video Of Madonna's Performance: