MADONNA: I ENJOY "PISSING PEOPLE OFF"

Madonna isn't done blasting the critics who cruelly lashed out at her adoption of 13-month-old Malawi-born David Banda.

"The idea that people think I got a shortcut or an easy ride is absolutely ludicrous," Madonna, 48, tells Time magazine. "I have never worked so hard for anything in my life, and I've never been given such a hard time. And my celebrity has worked against me in every way."

But Madonna tells Time's Josh Tyrangiel that even if she did get special treatment, so be it! She says, "And by the way, say I did cut the queue? Say I did cheat and not have to wait two years to adopt a child? Well good for me! Do you know how many children are going to die in the next two years? It's a stupid law. Change the law."

And leave it to Madge to get a kick out of infuriating people. "There is a part of me that is secretly enjoying pissing people off, because I know that when you're pissing people off you're often doing the right thing," she says. "What I hope I'm doing better now than I used to do is picking the right battles to fight, and not just being provocative for the sake of being provocative."