Madonna Put Kabbalah Above Cannes  5/13/05

Bosses at France's Cannes Film Festival offered Madonna a place on their panel of judges - but she snubbed their invitation because it clashes with her beloved Kabbalah meetings.

The Like a Virgin beauty, who had her documentary rejected for inclusion, disappointed Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux when she insisted she would have to travel back to London twice during the event to fulfill her obligations to the mystical form of Judaism.

Fremaux was keen to have the star involved as she "takes the cinema world seriously" and would have added a welcome injection of glamour to the panel.

Fremaux says, "We talked about her being on the jury, but her religion meant this could not happen. It is a regret because she has valuable knowledge.

"She would have to return to London every Saturday, or maybe it was every Friday, so for two days during our festival she would not be here and that could not work."