Rumours of Madonna's behaviour at the Toronto International Film Festival were rampant Tuesday afternoon after sources told various media outlets that volunteers were asked to turn around and avoid contact with the pop star.

Murmurs of the story began to seep out Monday afternoon, hours after Madonna wrapped up a press conference for her new movie "W.E." in which she makes her directorial debut.

By Tuesday morning the rumours made several news headlines and sparked hours of conversation on social media sites like Twitter, prompting Madonna's publicist to issue a statement in the singer's defense.

"Neither Madonna nor her security ever gave instructions for the volunteers to turn away from Madonna," said Liz Rozenberg. "In fact, she was so impressed with the volunteers that she publicly thanked them from the stage for their hard work before the premiere of her film last night which earned a standing ovation.

"She had a wonderful time at the festival and was especially delighted that she got to spend so much time with her fans in front of the theatre which is a famous tradition at the festival," she added.

Rosenberg, who says she has represented Madonna for 30 years, later spoke to CP24 about the controversy.

She said her team investigated the report immediately, questioning TIFF officials, security people in the building as well as Madonna's own security.

All denied giving volunteers the instructions to turn around in Madonna's presence, she said.

"I don't know how it happened or where it came from," she said. "I still haven't found out who did it but Madonna didn't do it."

Rosenberg then drafted the press release and asked TIFF officials if they would distribute it at various red carpets this evening. They agreed.

TIFF backs volunteers

Despite the statement from Madonna's camp, there are still some that insist volunteers were instructed not to glance at the star.

Multiple sources told CP24 that volunteers were asked not to look at Madonna and that TIFF officials later apologized to them, saying the order came from the singer's team.

Hours after the press release was distributed, TIFF officials sent out their own statement, saying they were in fact "disappointed to learn volunteers were asked to turn their backs while Madonna exited the press conference area.

"If in fact this did occur, it flies in the face of how we operate as an organization and how we treat our staff and volunteers," the statement said.

The statement goes on to say that TIFF provides staff and volunteers with a "supportive and positive work environment" and that "any actions that jeopardize that will not be tolerated."

However, the statement does not lay blame on Madonna's camp. In fact, TIFF makes note of Madonna's gesture at her premiere last night where she publicly thanked the volunteers.

But one celebrity blogger is suggesting the controversy is actually more of a misunderstanding that stemmed from a security breach at the press conference.

As Madonna and her colleagues were leaving the press conference, a young woman posing as a TIFF volunteer asked the star for her autograph.

The girl was in fact not a volunteer but had made a t-shirt to resemble the orange uniform that volunteers have been wearing.

The blogger reported that security asked the volunteers to turn around so that their t-shirts could be inspected for authenticity.

No one from the TIFF camp or Madonna camp has confirmed or denied that security took this step with the volunteers.

However, Rosenberg told CP24 that there may have been a fourth party security team in the building.

"We are still trying to figure out who and why anyone would ask the volunteers to turn away from Madonna," Rosenberg said. "She has never and would never ask anyone to do that ever."