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Madonna Says She Experienced Suicidal Feelings During Custody Battle Over Son Rocco
Madonna has shared that she contemplated taking her own life after becoming embroiled in a public custody battle over her then-teenage son.
Almost a decade ago, the Grammy-winning musician found herself at the centre of a legal spat with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie, after their eldest son Rocco, who was 15 at the time, said he wanted to live with his dad in the UK rather than joining his mum at their family home in the States.
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The Like A Prayer singer was on a world tour during the early stages of this custody battle, at one point breaking down in tears as she talked about Rocco during a one-off stand-alone show in Australia.
During a wide-ranging new interview on the podcast On Purpose With Jay Shetty, which mostly centred around spirituality, Madonna opened up about this low ebb in her personal life.
“I actually contemplated suicide,” she recalled. “One of the most painful moments in my life where I honestly couldn’t see the forest through the trees was when I went through a custody battle with my son.
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“Even though my marriage didn’t work out – I mean, a lot of people’s marriages don’t work out, they marry the wrong people, they’re not aligned, they’re not meant for each other.
“[But] someone trying to take my child away from me was like, they might as well just kill me. That’s really how I was thinking.”
Cinzia Camela/LiveMedia/Shutterstock
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Madonna went on to disclose that she would often find herself “lying on the floor of my dressing room sobbing” during this period.
“I had to go on stage every night,” she said. “I really thought it was like it was the end of the world. I couldn’t take it. I just couldn’t take it.”
The chart-topping star is a mum to six children in total: 28-year-old Lourdes, 25-year-old Rocco, 20-year-old David, 19-year-old Mercy and 13-year-old twins Estere and Stella.
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Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows
Fortunately, Madonna and Rocco have now put their past differences aside, and are now “great friends”, she told Jay Shetty, and last month he joined his siblings for his famous mum’s birthday celebrations in Italy.
Weeks earlier, she also made a public statement in solidarity with the children of Gaza on her eldest son’s birthday, which she described as the “best gift I can give to him as a mother”.
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Help and support:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
- CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
Labour MP Chokes Back Tears As He Begs Starmer And Lammy To Help Gaza
A Labour MP choked back tears as he begged his own government to do more to help end the suffering of the people of Gaza.
Barry Gardiner said Keir Starmer and David Lammy “see the same images that you and I see” when they see footage of the effects of Israel’ continuing bombardment of the territory.
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He said he “cannot understand” why they refuse to go further to help find peace.
The former minister hit out at the prime minister and foreign secretary as Donald Trump unveiled his plan to end the bloody conflict.
A clearly-emotional Gardiner, the MP for Brent West, told Channel 4 News: “They go on their phones, they see the same images that you and I see, and they see those children.
“I cannot understand how you can be a foreign secretary, a prime minister, and think that you don’t take the strongest possible stand against this.”
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Starmer’s government has taken the historic step of formally recognising a Palestinian state, and has cancelled some weapons licences with Israel.
However, critics have accused the prime minister of not doing enough to stand up to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Starmer has welcomed Trump’s peace plan, which could see former Labour PM Tony Blair handed a key role in helping to run a post-conflict Gaza.
The prime minister said: “We strongly support his efforts to end the fighting, release the hostages and ensure the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza. This is our top priority and should happen immediately.
“We call on all sides to come together and to work with the US Administration to finalise this agreement and bring it into reality.”
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What You Need To Know About Trump And Blair’s Plan For ‘Eternal Peace’ In Gaza
Donald Trump has unveiled a new plan for ending the war in Gaza – and former UK prime minister Tony Blair is lined up to play a key part.
While the US president claims his idea could bring “eternal peace in the Middle East” and the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu backs the proposal, Hamas is still ruminating over it.
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However, if the Palestinian militants do not agree, Trump has claimed that the Israelis would have “our full backing to do what you would have to do” – and take its attacks on Gaza even further.
So what’s in the deal – and why is Blair involved?
What is the new plan?
The 20-point proposal is essentially a set of “principles” laying out the foundations for further negotiations.
It calls for a stop to the fighting and a restricted withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Hamas would also have to release all remaining hostages, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would be freed.
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A local technocratic administration would run the day-to-day services of Gaza, and it would be overseen by a Trump-chaired ‘Board of Peace’ based in Egypt – which Blair would be part of.
The US and Arab countries would set up a “stabilisation” force to take over security and ensure the demilitarise Palestinian armed factions.
Any Hamas members who “commit to peaceful co-existence” and decommission their weapons would be granted amnesty – or face exile.
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No one else will be forced to leave Gaza.
Palestinian statehood gets a brief mention, but there’s no commitment to the idea and the plan says it may only be possible if the governing body in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority, is reformed.
The plan also said “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza”, but no such promise is made for the West Bank which remains occupied.
The scheme aligns with Israel’s plans for the territory – the disarmament of Hamas, the demilitarisation of Gaza and, crucially, no firm establishment of a Palestinian state.
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What are the issues with it?
Despite Trump’s big claims and push for an “all in one” agreement, this is far from a ready-to-go peace deal.
Trump and Netanyahu did not even take questions at their press conference, demonstrating how it is truly not a fleshed out plan.
Hamas has not been given any deadline to agree to the offer, but are likely to take issue that the deal does still not have self-determination for Palestinians, or enough protection for them.
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More clarity is needed for Israeli withdrawal lines, how the remaining Hamas hostages would be released, which Palestinian prisoners would be freed and how Gaza would be run in the aftermath of the destructive war.
It does signal a large shift in the White House’s thinking. Trump previously supported the idea of forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza and turning it into “Gaza Riviera”.
But previous peace efforts have fallen apart, with Netanyahu regularly pulling out of deals amid domestic pressures.
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And that’s all before even looking at the backlash caused by Blair’s involvement.
What about Tony Blair?
The former prime minister has welcomed the new scheme, calling it “bold and intelligent”, adding: “It offers us the best chance of ending two years of war, misery, and suffering and I thank President Trump for his leadership, determination and commitment.”
But the former PM’s involvement is a notable cause for surprise – and alarm in some circles – considering he took Britain into the US’s war in Iraq back in 2003, wrongly claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
While he has years of experience in dealing with the Middle East, he was also the only other person Trump named when unveiling his new plan.
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Even health secretary Wes Streeting admitted that Blair’s role will “raise eyebrows”, although prime minister Keir Starmer has publicly welcomed the plan.
Behind the scenes though, his cabinet is allegedly divided over Blair’s potential role – and fear it could damage Starmer if it goes wrong.
Several backbenchers are also criticising it.
Labour MP Sarah Champion told Bloomberg: “Tony Blair has history in the Middle East and that means he does not come to the table in a neutral role, but with baggage. It should be up to the Palestinian people to decide if that makes him a good or bad advocate.”
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Suspended Labour MP Diane Abbott also slammed the plan on X, saying: “Because the peace plan is supported by Trump and Netanyahu, plus the Western governments who have armed Israel, plus Blair and the Arab dictatorships does not mean it is a good deal, or that it has worldwide support. Quite the opposite.”
Even outside of the Labour Party, there’s plenty of unhappiness at the prospect of Blair being at the centre of a new plan.
The UN Special Rapporteur of occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albannese, wrote on X: “Tony Blair? Hell no. Hands off Palestine. Shall we meet in The Hague perhaps?”
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Many commentators waded into the debate on X, too – including former Labour leader, independent MP Jeremy Corbyn.
He wrote: “Tony Blair’s catastrophic decision to invade Iraq cost thousands upon thousands of lives. He shouldn’t be anywhere near the Middle East, let alone Gaza. It is not up to Blair, Trump or Netanyahu to decide the future of Gaza. That is up to the people of Palestine.”
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