'Rough Time' For Madonna In Adoption Flap
In a statement released Tuesday, Madonna says that she followed the law with her recent adoption. However, child rights groups are firing back that she needs to be a resident of Malawi in order to adopt.
Does this statement do anything to quell this controversy? And how is Madonna handling all of this media attention?
On The Early Show Wednesday, national correspondent Tracy Smith spoke with Neil Sean, an entertainment reporter for Britain's Sky News, who shed light on these questions.
"Actually what hasn't been reported so far is that a lot of fans are on Madonna's side. You've got a lot of people delivering presents, their presents — little teddy bears, toys — to the London home and homes around the world," he said. "I think she's having a bit of a rough time. We're noted here in England for being rather cruel to our personalities and celebrities. You think about Sharon Stone and Angelina Jolie.
"Why is Madonna been sort of the victim here? She has, in fact, offered a wonderful life for a child and, obviously, we do know she has openly admitted in documentaries, her and guy Ritchie's marriage have had a few problems. Is this a band-aid baby? She says not. The statements that she issued yesterday doesn't really tell us anything. It just sort of says, 'I'm here, I've got the child, I'm under probation, I'm doing my best.' Shouldn't she be left alone?"
Sean explained why Madonna maybe be facing so much contempt when other celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Meg Ryan have done international adoptions and been applauded.
"The problem with Madonna is, we're fascinated by her life. She's possibly the old school star. You don't really know that much about her," he said. "This sprang out of nowhere. The statement claims she been working on this for quite a few months now. We didn't know anything about that. We thought she was touring the world, squeezing herself into leotards during the Confessions tour. And then she comes out of the tour, of course, and becomes Madonna reinvented yet again."
Madonna's track record as a mom has been great, Sean said.
"She has been, of course, an excellent mother to her daughter, Lourdes, and, of course, to baby son Rocco Ritchie," he said. "We do know from reports that Madonna desperately wanted another child. Obviously, Madonna can get anything in life but even at 48 it's pushing it for her to have another child with Guy Ritchie."
Britain's Daily Mirror reported that Madonna wants to adopt another child — reportedly a 3-year-old girl — from the African village where she found David.
"There is no concrete evidence that that is the case," Sean said. "She's focusing on baby David right now and what she will want to do is integrate baby David into the Ritchie family. If she wants to adopt in the future, she has to get past all of these other hurdles first. I think, really, we should embrace what she's trying to do, and possibly support her. That's what I want to do at least."
Sean says the chances are good that little David will stay with her in London.
"Madonna got this far. She had a lot of backlash to get to this point, she has set up a foundation and she has done a lot for that little town of course," he said. "Of course the baby is with her. She now has to prove that she's going to be great mother. Expect a massive PR onslaught of all these great pictures of her, in the park, on holiday. But it will be a long time before we see pictures of baby David with her out on the town. She wants to keep the baby under wraps for the time being. She knows the tide has turned on her a little bit."