Madonna has issued an apology over her use of a racist term in a picture caption recently posted on Instagram.

The ‘Material Girl’ posted an image of her son Rocco (see image below) on Instagram on January 17 accompanied by the caption:

“No one messes with Dirty Soap! Mama said knock you out #disni**a”.

However, Madonna quickly deleted her controversial language and re-wrote the text to read: “Ok let me start this again, #get off my dick haters!”

The 55-year-old pop superstar has now issued a written apology via Facebook.

Madge stated: “I am sorry if I offended anyone with my use of the N-word on Instagram. It was not meant as a racial slur… I am not a racist.”

She continued: “There's no way to defend the use of the word. It was all about intention… It was used as a term of endearment toward my son who is white.”

The ‘Hung Up’ singer finished by saying: “"I appreciate that it's a provocative word and I apologize if it gave people the wrong impression. Forgive me.”

Madonna previously caused controversy on Instagram earlier this month after sharing an image of her 13-year-old son Rocco holding bottles of alcohol with the caption, “The party has just begun! Bring it! 2014”. She changed her caption 24 hours later to “No one was drinking we were just having fun! Calm down and get a sense of humor! Don't start the year off with judgement!”

Watch an interview with Madonna below: