1992–96: Maverick, Sex, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Evita

In 1992, Madonna founded her own entertainment company, Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and also music publishing, television, merchandising and book-publishing divisions. The deal was a joint venture with Time Warner as part of $60 million worth of recordings and businesses. It gave Madonna twenty percent royalty from the music proceedings, equal at that time to Michael Jackson's. The first release from the venture was Madonna's book, titled Sex. It consisted of sexually provocative and explicit images, photographed by Steven Meisel. The book caused strong reaction from the media and the general public, but sold 1.5 million copies, at $50 each, in a matter of days. At the same time she released her fifth studio album, Erotica, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its title track peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Erotica also produced five further singles, namely "Deeper and Deeper," "Bad Girl," "Fever," "Rain" and "Bye Bye Baby."
Her provocative imagery continued with the erotic thrillers Body of Evidence and Dangerous Game. The first film contained scenes of S&M and bondage, and was poorly received by critics. Dangerous Game was released straight-to-video in North America and was described by The New York Times as "angry and painful, and the pain feels real." Madonna embarked on The Girlie Show World Tour at the end of 1993. It featured her dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix, surrounded by topless dancers. The show faced negative reaction in Puerto Rico, when she rubbed their national flag between her legs on stage. That year, she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. After Letterman introduced her on his show as "one of the biggest stars in the world", Madonna subsequently repeatedly used four-letter words and asked Letterman to smell a pair of her underwear she handed him. The release of Truth or Dare, Sex, Erotica, Body of Evidence and the appearance on Letterman - all of them made critics question Madonna as a sexual renegade. She faced strong negative publicity, with critics and fans commenting that "she had gone too far" and that her career was over.
Madonna tried to tone down the provocative image, by releasing the ballad single "I'll Remember" (1993), which she recorded for Alek Keshishian's film With Honors. She made a tame appearance with Letterman at an awards show, as well as appearing on the Jay Leno show. Madonna realized that her music career needed some dramatic changes in order to sustain herself in the long run. With her sixth studio album, Bedtime Stories (1994), she tried to soften her image and reconnect with the general public once more. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and produced four singles– "Secret", "Take a Bow", which spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, "Bedtime Story" and "Human Nature". At the same time, she became romantically involved with fitness trainer Carlos Leon. Continuing to tone down her image, Madonna released Something to Remember, a collection of her ballads, in May 1995. The album featured three new songs— a cover of the Marvin Gaye's song "I Want You", "You'll See", and "One More Chance". The following year, Madonna’s most critically successful film Evita was released, where she portrayed the title role of Eva Perón. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, for the role.[80] Madonna released three singles from the soundtrack album, including "You Must Love Me", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1997, and "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". On October 14, 1996, Madonna gave birth to her and Carlos Leon's daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon.