John Schlesinger blamed Madonna for heart attack

Legendary out director John Schlesinger, who died in 2003, blamed Madonna's prima donna behavior on the set of his final film, The Next Best Thing, for his 1999 heart attack. The New York Daily News quotes a letter written by the hospitalized filmmaker to his agent in which Schlesinger writes, "I am fucking angry with [producer] Tom [Rosenberg] being influenced by Madonna. I do not for one moment think that their behavior has not added to the reasons I have ended up here." Another Schlesinger memo said that Madonna wanted producers to use postproduction computer imaging to "beautify" her in 34 separate shots. The director also said that Madonna lobbied to have a key scene removed because she felt it was too "gay," much to Schlesinger's disgust. Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg told The [London] Daily Telegraph that she was surprised by Schlesinger's allegations, adding, "No one has ever questioned her level of professional behavior."