Madonna defends posting altered pictures of Mandela, Luther King

Madonna had posted a series of black-and-white pictures on her page on January 2, showing the faces of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and various icons bound with black string.

Pop diva Madonna has sparked controversy after she posted altered images of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela on her Instagram account.

The 56-year-old singer now took to Facebook to defend her action and said those pics were never intended to insult anyone, reported TMZ. Madonna posted a series of black-and-white pictures on her page on January 2, showing the faces of Mandela, Luther King and various icons bound with black string.

"This is neither a crime or an insult or racist," she posted on the social-networking site. "I'm saying they are Rebel Hearts too," she added.