Pop icon Madonna has landed in hot water. It is claimed that she has appropriated the faces of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Marley, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, John Lennon, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among others, for a social media campaign to promote her new album, Rebel Heart.

The album’s original cover art features Madonna’s face wrapped in bondage cord and the words “Rebel Heart” scrawled beneath. For the past few days, the singer has been flooding her social media accounts with the faces of history’s “rebel hearts,” including the figures mentioned above, doctored to emulate the album cover.

Photo: Instagram/@madonna

According to the Daily Mail, Madonna released an apology via Facebook over the weekend. “I’m sorry. I’m not comparing my self to anyone. I’m admiring and acknowledging there (sic) Rebel Hearts,” she wrote.

She also attempted to shift some of the blame for the images onto her fans, stating: “Am I saying I am them NO I’m saying they are Rebel Hearts too. And I didn’t do it My fans did And I just re posted those photos My fans aren’t racist either If they put me in the same category as these other people Thank you.”

Phoot: Twitter/@madonna

Just hours after posting the grammatically challenged apology, the image of a cord-bound Princess Di was posted to the singer’s Instagram account, proving that she has no intention of stopping, despite being “sorry.”

Since posting the images and the half-hearted apology, Madonna has received criticism not only from media outlets around the world, but from her own social media followers. They have accused her of appropriating images of historical icons, icons of black culture, all in an attempt to hawk more albums.

Danielle Melville, director of communications and outreach at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, told Independent Online: “The foundation will consult with Madonna’s team and investigate the facts further surrounding the use of the image [of Nelson Mandela]. The trademark guidelines with regards to the use of [the] image do not allow the commercialization or unauthorized use of [this] image.”