Sandra Bernhard confessed that “it really makes me sad” that she and Madonna have not been able to “maintain” their friendship.
The pop star and comedian became famous and close friends in the 1980s when they both performed on stage in New York City.
In a television moment that became an instant classic, Madonna and Sandra wore matching outfits and flirted with each other on Late Night With David Letterman in 1988.
However, by 1992, their close bond had mysteriously evaporated, and rumors have circulated ever since as to why.
Now Sandra has nostalgically reflected on her “perfect moment” with Madonna, on an episode of Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast. Dinner is on me..
Sandra Bernhard confessed that “it really makes me sad” that she and Madonna have not been able to “maintain” their friendship; photographed in 1988 on Late Night With David Letterman
They began their friendship in 1988 when Madonna was starring in David Mamet’s play Speed The Plow on Broadway.
Meanwhile, Sandra was performing her off-Broadway one-woman show Without You I’m Nothing, which she turned into a film shortly after.
Now, more than three decades after their friendship broke down, Sandra commented that “it would be nice” to meet Madonna again now.
“But I don’t know what it would be like, you know? I mean, and I hate to get nostalgic and get carried away by that time, because it was a perfect time,” she said, recalling her life and career in the late ’80s, with her frequent appearances on Letterman and her successful stage show.
“There are times when I think… it really makes me sad that I couldn’t maintain our friendship,” she said, adding cryptically: “I mean, I could have.”
Sandra’s close friend, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, previously shared his sensational theory that a love triangle had sparked her fallout with Madonna.
Isaac alleged that Sandra had been dating famous nightclub owner Ingrid Casares, with whom Madonna was then having an “affair.”
“I wasn’t sure what Madonna was doing with Sandra,” he said in the Hot takes and in-depth analysis podcast. ‘I know Madonna is pansexual… and I guess I couldn’t know what was going on between them. I couldn’t know if they were having an affair or if Madonna was after Sandra’s girlfriend, who was beautiful, a girl called Ingrid.’
Now Sandra has wistfully reflected on her “perfect moment” with Madonna, on an episode of Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s On Me podcast; pictured in 2021
The pop star and comedian became close friends in the 1980s when they were both performing on stage in New York City; photographed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1989.
In a television moment that became an instant classic, Madonna and Sandra wore matching outfits and flirted with each other on Late Night With David Letterman in 1988.
However, by 1992, their close bond had mysteriously evaporated, and rumours have circulated ever since as to why; pictured here in 1991.
Ingrid became a high-profile media figure in the 1990s, surrounded by a host of famous friends, including Donald Trump and Tommy Mottola.
He once claimed that Sandra and Madonna had a fight because Sandra was not asked to be one of the models for Madonna’s Sex book.
Isaac, however, questioned Ingrid’s version of events, saying: “The truth is that Sandra was betrayed because Madonna had an affair with Ingrid.”
She insisted that Sandra “didn’t care one bit” about the Sex book and never expressed any desire to be one of the models included in the project.
“None of us gave that book much thought,” Isaac said wryly. “That book was, you know, a little forced, a little artificial.”
Now, more than three decades after their friendship broke down, Sandra commented that it “would be nice” to meet Madonna again now; photographed in 1991
Sandra’s close friend, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, has sensationally claimed that she and Madonna had an alleged love rivalry over Ingrid Casares; Ingrid and Sandra pictured in 1991
When Sandra herself participated in the same podcast a year earlier, she was more vague about the end of her friendship with Madonna, although she hinted that the media scrutiny involved had become a strain for her.
“I didn’t like that level of visibility and having to work at it constantly,” the Roseanne actress said. “All artists work at it to some degree, but I’m a person who improvises a lot, on stage and in my life, and I don’t like being tied down to having to be a certain way for my image.”
Sandra added: ‘What I tried to convey in our friendship is: ‘I’m really your friend, I’m not just someone who’s passing through.’
She reflected: “And I guess for a while we had a real friendship, but it’s hard for someone like her. She doesn’t really want to be around someone who reflects too much of who she is. So her relationships just don’t last.”