Some friendly advice for Madonna: Lose the epic aggression, quit flashing your naughty bits and start behaving like an average soccer mom.
I recently described the frequently bod-baring music mogul as the “diva of degradation.’’ Perhaps I was too harsh. But no worse than Madge herself, who repeatedly dropped the F-bomb and expressed a wish about “blowing up the White House” in an oral hemorrhage she delivered at last month’s Women’s March on Washington. (She contends she spoke “metaphorically.”)
Seriously, sister: It’s not all about you.
As she’s done twice before, the Material Momster swooped into the dirt-poor African nation of Malawi, this time to adopt twin 4-year-old girls. The adorable tots, Stelle and Estere Mwale (pictured with Madonna), have escaped deprivation, leaving the orphanage in which they’ve lived since their mother died days after their birth. Taking up residence in the lap of luxury in New York City with a multimillionairess as a single parent, they’re sure to attend the finest private schools and travel to exotic vacation destinations via Gulfstream jets. They’ll want for nothing.
Except, perhaps, the constant attention of their globetrotting mother. Madonna’s 16-year-old son, Rocco Ritchie, escaped from her custody under a court settlement reached in September, and now lives in London with his filmmaker dad, Guy Ritchie, 48, Madonna’s ex-husband. He was fed up with being dragged around the planet by his mum, sources have told The Post.
The process for adopting a Malawian child normally takes anywhere from several months to two years. But Madonna blasted through the hoops, formally applying to adopt the twins just two weeks before taking them home Wednesday. This kind of speed has caused adoption advocates to complain that rich and/or famous folks are able to move to the front of the child lines with pockets full of cash.
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There are about 427,000 youngsters in foster care in the United States, with some 111,820 of them waiting to be adopted, Schuyler Bader, executive director of DC-based Voice for Adoption, told me.
Many languishing in foster care are considered “special- needs” cases, said Bader, suffering from such things as physical, emotional and developmental disabilities that severely decrease their chances of being adopted. But some are just too old.
The age at which a youngster is considered to be of special needs is 5!
“Everyone wants an infant or a toddler, the closest thing to having their own child,” said Bader, whose organization supports all adoption, international and domestic. “From a personal perspective, I would love to have an advocate like Madonna adopting from foster care and domestically.’’
Madonna enraged some in Malawi after adopting David Banda Ciccone Ritchie, now 11, in 2006 and Mercy James Ciccone Ritchie, 11, in 2009.
(She also has a daughter from a previous relationship, Lourdes Leon, 20.)
“She just came unannounced and proceeded to villages and made poor people dance for her,” Joyce Banda, the country’s former president, lashed out to a reporter after a 2013 visit. She was angered by Madonna’s boasts (which the star denied making) of building entire schools in Africa, when, Banda claimed, she’d just raised money for new classrooms. The songstress and her entourage were stripped of their VIP status and forced to wait with the masses at the airport in the nation’s capital of Lilongwe.
But on a visit the next year with the country’s new president and David’s biological father, Madonna turned Malawians into some of her biggest fans.
At 58 years old, Madonna is considered too old to adopt in Malawi. But a judge, Fiona Mwale, made an exception after Madge aced a physical exam.
The jurist admitted being swayed by Madonna’s claims, born a Roman Catholic, she holds strong religious values and doesn’t believe in hitting kids or using foul language around them, according to a court document obtained by The Associated Press. Apparently, Madonna’s Women’s March antics never came up.
She also pointed out that Madonna raised $7.5 million for the construction of a pediatric surgery ward in Malawi. I guess money talks.
There’s time for Madonna to transform into a mom we’d be proud to call our own. For the sake of two little girls I hope she does.
Doll’s price trans-cends all reason
The first transgender doll to hit the market will be introduced at the American International Toy Fair kicking off Saturday in Manhattan. It’s modeled after Jazz Jennings, a 16-year-old Florida trans girl who achieved notice as an author, activist and TV personality. If hunks of plastic can help kids adjust to being different, Jazz is to be applauded.
But retailing for $89.99 apiece, the doll, which bears no hint of genitalia, is pretty steep. I suggest struggling kids play with cheaper dolls — even Barbie. I’ll bet they can be every bit as nurturing.
City bullying the victim
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Guess what?
Last week, lawyers responded to the allegations brought in December by Michael Bistreich, 28, against the city and his ex-boss, Brooklyn City Councilman Vincent Gentile – by essentially blaming the victim. If Bistreich were “reasonable,’’ he’d see the incidents as “petty slights and trivial inconveniences,’’ according to court papers. His problems, lawyers contend, were caused by “his own negligent or otherwise culpable conduct.’’
As a taxpayer, I could wind up paying for this. Yet I think this guy deserves a bundle.
Tough-to-Love Gov
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Or maybe he’s changed into a gentleman. It could have happened.
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