Vanilla Ice, the 56-year-old rapper known for his iconic hit “Ice Ice Baby,” recently sat down with DJ Vlad for an interview where he reminisced about his brief romance with Madonna in the early 1990s.
Vanilla Ice, born Robert Matthew Van Winkle, shared insights into the height of his fame and his encounter with Madonna, who was a major pop star at the time.
He recalled their initial meeting, which allegedly took place at one of his concerts in New York City. Madonna, then 32, attended the show at Madison Square Garden, although reports from 1991 suggest they may have first crossed paths at the smaller Beacon Theater.
Describing Madonna as a “sweetheart” and a “legend,” Vanilla Ice recounted how she visited his dressing room after the performance. “She came in and said ‘Hello.’ ‘Hi, Madonna.’ ‘Hi,'” he recalled. Madonna watched the entire show from the front row, dancing enthusiastically with her entourage.
“I was looking at them like ‘Damn, Madonna’s dancing more than everybody in the crowd,'” he added.
According to Vanilla Ice, Madonna returned to his dressing room after the show, and they exchanged phone numbers, initiating what he described as a “normal relationship between two people.”
However, their romance hit a snag with the release of Madonna’s controversial 1992 Sex book, which featured explicit photographs of the singer alongside celebrities including Big Daddy Kane, Naomi Campbell, and Vanilla Ice himself.
The rapper expressed dismay over his inclusion in the book, stating he never gave permission for the photos and felt blindsided by its contents.
“She made me look like the biggest fool on the planet,” Vanilla Ice remarked, referring to the book as a “slutty package.” This revelation marked the end of their relationship, he asserted.
Vanilla Ice humorously recounted declining due to their age difference.
“Who proposes to a guy?” he quipped. Despite the fallout from the Sex book and their subsequent parting of ways, Vanilla Ice emphasized that he is content with his life today, mentioning his daughters and a recent addition to his family.
Vanilla Ice married Laura Giaritta in 1997, with whom he shares two daughters. Their divorce was finalized in 2019, after filing in 2016. While his current marital status remains unclear, the rapper shared a photo in 2018 indicating the birth of another child.
Vanilla Ice concluded the interview by dismissing his past relationship with Madonna as part of pop culture history. “Never seen her [nor] heard from her at all since then,” he revealed. “If she called me on the phone, I wouldn’t answer it. Never.”
