Kathy Griffin claims Madonna is a victim of ageism and misogyny after the singer suffered unwarranted online abuse in the wake of her hospitalisation over the weekend.

The 64-year-old pop legend was found unconscious in New York on Saturday and rushed to the ICU, where she was reportedly intubated overnight.

Her 84-date Celebration tour, originally scheduled for a July 15 launch in Vancouver, has since been postponed while she recovers from a ‘bacterial infection.’

But while the singer has received a universal wave of supportive messages from fans across the world, a minority have either criticised her appearance or claimed her illness is a tactical ploy to boost ticket sales.

Taking to Twitter and TikTok on Thursday, Griffin, 62, dismissed the negative comments as a mean spirited reaction to Madonna’s age and gender.

Speaking out: Kathy Griffin claims Madonna is a victim of ageism and misogyny after the singer suffered unwarranted online abuse in the wake of her hospitalisation over the weekend

Worry: The 64-year-old pop legend was found unconscious in New York on Saturday and rushed to the ICU, where she was reportedly intubated overnight

Sharing a brief video, she said: ‘I don’t know what’s going on with Madonna, I don’t know, but I love her and want to defend her. I have never met her. I’ve seen her in concert, of course, and I think she has provided the world with decades of music and entertainment.

‘But I don’t like how people are already piling on and making fun of her being obviously quite ill, or collapsed, and she’ll be fine – we don’t know anything yet.’

She added: ‘ I’m going to be honest, I think a lot of it is ageism and misogyny. Sorry, but as a 62-year old chick I deal with it all the time, and she’s freaking Madonna!

‘So I don’t care about her fillers; they’re going to go away if she feels like it or not. I care about her health, and I’m glad she can go back on this tour, and the tour is the greatest hits and she should be great.’

Madonna’s condition was so serious that her relatives were ‘preparing for the worst,’ a family member has told DailyMail.com.

On Wednesday, her manager Guy Oseary announced that she was suffering from a ‘serious bacterial infection’, and needed time to recover so was postponing her tour, due to begin in Vancouver on July 15.

The Michigan-born singer’s relative told DailyMail.com they spent several traumatic days unsure if she was going to pull through.

The family member said the shocking collapse was a wake-up call for Madonna, who believes she is ‘invincible’ and has been pushing herself extremely hard to prepare for the tour.

On the mend: Madonna (seen on June 20) is ‘still under medical care’ but is ‘expected to make a full recovery’ – although a rescheduled date for her tour has yet to be shared

The ‘life-threatening’ condition that de-railed Madonna’s tour: What are bacterial infections and what causes them?

It is not known exactly what kind of infection Madonna is suffering from, however bacterial infections can affect many different parts of the body, including the skin, lungs, brain, and blood, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

‘Common bacterial diseases include UTIs, food poisoning, STIs and some skin, sinus and ear infections,’ the medical body states, noting that the most common form of treatment is a course of antibiotics.

‘There are many bacterial infections that aren’t usually serious or can be treated easily with antibiotics,’ it explains. ‘However, any bacterial infection that gets deep into your body, like in your blood, heart, lungs or brain, can be life-threatening.’

Speaking out: ‘ I’m going to be honest, I think a lot of it is ageism and misogyny. Sorry, but as a 62-year old chick I deal with it all the time, and she’s freaking Madonna!’ Griffin told fans

‘For the past couple of days, no one really knew which direction this was going to turn, and her family was preparing for the worst,’ the relative said.

‘That is why it was kept a secret since Saturday. Everyone believed that we may lose her and that has been the reality of the situation.’

Madonna is mother to six children: Lourdes, 26; Rocco, 22; David, 17; Mercy, 17; and 10-year-old twins Stella and Estere.

Lourdes was by her side throughout her hospitalization, The New York Post reported.

The family source told DailyMail.com that her sudden hospitalization united them.

‘All of Madonna’s family members have come together over this,’ the relative said.

And it served as a reminder to the singer that she needed to take care of herself.

‘This really woke her the f*** up. She has not been living as healthy a life as she should be for her age, and she has been wearing herself thin over the past couple of months.

‘She thinks that she is still young when, in fact, she is not. She also believes that she is invincible.’