He’s not my Guy: Madonna and Ritchie announce divorce

October 15, 2008

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US pop star Madonna and her British film director husband Guy Ritchie are to divorce after nearly eight years of marriage.

“Madonna and Guy Ritchie have agreed to divorce after seven and a half years of marriage, their representatives confirmed today,” a spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday.

“They have both requested that the media maintain respect for their family at this difficult time.”

The spokeswoman for 50-year-old Madonna, who was due to give a concert in Boston later today, would provide no further details.

The confirmation followed a report in Britain’s Sun tabloid quoting a source who said Ritchie, 40, had pushed for the split.

Madonna, who is in the middle of her “Sticky and Sweet” world tour, married Ritchie in December 2000 in a lavish ceremony at a Scottish castle after meeting at a dinner party given by British rock star Sting.

The couple have an eight-year-old son, Rocco, and a three-year-old son adopted in Malawi, David Banda. Madonna also has a daughter, 12-year-old Lourdes, by her former fitness trainer Carlos Leon.

In July, Madonna took the rare step of issuing a formal denial of reports linking her to Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez, adding in a statement: “My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce.”

But according to The Sun, Ritchie - the director of moderately successful gangster films including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - has become frustrated.

He sees his superstar spouse as a “dead weight around his neck” and now wants a divorce to be agreed quickly, the source was quoted as saying.

“Guy’s said if they were going to split, it has to be now - and their marriage will finally be over in a matter of weeks,” the source told The Sun.

Madonna’s mother-in-law, Ritchie’s mother Lady Amber Leighton, made no comment to reporters who gathered outside her west London home, saying: “We are not talking to press and we won’t be all day.”

The singer was believed to be in Boston. Her tour includes dates in the United States and Canada over the next few weeks. Her next stop is Toronto on Saturday.

Top British celebrity publicist Max Clifford said that marriages between two high-profile people were bound to have strains.

“It’s always difficult for two people very much in the public spotlight, that have succesful careers, to also have a successful relationship,” he told Sky News television.

“It’s almost a conflict because of the demands of the business, the demands of the career…. You can only see potential clashes along the way and possibly that’s what’s been happening,” he added.

Madonna, born Madonna Louise Ciccone, was previously married to US actor Sean Penn, from 1985 to 1989.

In July, Madonna’s estranged brother said he believed she was committed to her marriage to Ritchie.

“She’s not the kind of person just to walk away,” Christopher Ciccone told US television, adding that the pop legend will “do what’s best for her family and her kids.

AFP