Director Guy Ritchie has headed out on the promotional trail for his upcoming project, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, which promises Robert Downey Jr. in drag to the hilt, so to speak. As such, Guy appears in a Q&A with Details to discuss several things irrelevant to the movie at hand, but that’s alright — let’s just leave that business to RDJ to take care of in a few weeks, shall we? Instead, let’s read about Guy admitting to being a major pothead in his young adulthood. See, there’s hope for Miley “Bob” Cyrus after all! Also, there’s the topic of Guy’s former marriage to Madonna:
On His Past As A Brawler: “I haven’t had an altercation for, I don’t know, 15 years? I did go through a truculent period once. I smoked a lot of weed and drank a lot of booze, and when I tried to give them both up, I thought I’d take up street fighting. I came unstuck on a number of occasions. I was just looking for adrenaline. But if someone said something rude to me now, I’d just accept it. It’s an age thing. Extreme violence is for young men. You look like an arse when you’re rolling around on the street at 43 years old.”
On Being A Martial Artist: “Between the ages of 18 and 22, karate was the only thing that I turned to religiously. It’s where I got discipline from. Being screamed at and realizing that the only thing you have to fight against is how much of a puss you are. Now I do Brazilian jujitsu five days a week. It’s like chess for wrestlers. And also, it’s good for old men, because you don’t get your nose pressed in or your joints snapped.”
On The Life Advice He Gives To His Kids: “I don’t. I’m f%#$ing glad no one gave me too much advice. You’ve got to work it out for yourself. What works for me might not work for anyone else. Because everyone told me that to be good at school was important, but for me it wasn’t. So I am anti-school. And I’m anti people putting so much pressure on kids and robbing their childhood by giving them so much homework. I think if kids want to arse around, then they should.”
On Being Married To Madonna: “I don’t know. By the way, I enjoyed my first marriage. It’s definitely not something I regret. The experience was ultimately very positive. I love the kids that came out of it, and I could see no other route to take. But you move on, don’t you? You’re right, I stepped into a soap opera, and I lived in it for quite a long period of my life. I’ll probably be more eloquent on it 10 years from now. When you end up with a lot of the things you set out to chase and find that you’ve stumbled into all sorts of hollow victories, then you become deeply philosophical. I’m quite happy that that experience was accelerated for me. I’m glad I made money, in other words. And I’m glad I got married.”
[From Details]
While it’s easy to take Guy’s words (re: Madonna) out of context, his full statement on his ex-wife is rather diplomatic, don’t you think? Of course, he probably doesn’t want to muddy the waters since they share custody of Rocco and David, and in some regard, Guy probably respects Madge as well. Well, as much as he can respect the woman who made him get an adult circumcision. His words make sense though, for I can certainly understand how being married to one of the most famous (and notoriously eccentric) pop stars in the world could be a shell-shocking experience and a soap opera as a matter of fact. Hell, I still have trouble believing that they were ever married in the first place.
Photos courtesy of Fame
It’s more like he stepped into a buzz saw…..he was very diplomatic. *golf clap*
Madonna actually looks kind of pretty in these photos. Now she looks horrible.
I thought the same thing. She looked pretty good in those pictures with him. Maybe he leashed her crazy too much for her to handle, because it was sure unleashed after the divorce.
“I’m glad I made money, in other words.” Um.
“I’m glad I made money, in other words. And I’m glad I got married.”
No kidding – I had the same reaction, Hm. Is he referring to his $76 mil. payout? I don’t begrudge the guy a divorce settlement… the fellas have been paying them for years, so fair is fair, but that sounded really tacky.
I liked him and Madonna together and I didn’t at the same time. She’s a strong woman and it takes a strong man to allow a woman to be who she is… he obviously wasn’t strong enough. (shrug)
Surely you jest. I don’t believe I would I would be able to be in the same room with her for a few minutes- much less be married to her for a few years. It has NOTHING to do with how “not strong enough” he was; it has EVERYTHING to do with how narcissistic and obnoxious SHE is.
She made him get circumcised? OMFG. Seriously. I was involved with a fabulous British guy for a few years, probably one of my greatest loves and I never cared (or even noticed, because when you get down to business the skin pulls back). I know in Judaism it’s a big deal but as long as it works, I don’t give a shite.
Totally! As long as they wash it, it’s nothing!
The British men I dated had CLEANER peens than the circumcised Americans.
True. I love British men. My ex wore an Hermes cologne which I loved – one time when I had to travel he sprayed a pair of his boxers with it and snuck it into my luggage. When I unpacked at the hotel I got a lovely surprise. Now I’m sad.
Marrying someone so massively famous and powerful can be daunting. he came out of it with a ton of money. He’s probably not too unhappy. They both seemed to try until towards the end. One of Madonna’s songs the last few years of their marriage said : you stay because I make it so convenient. After her serious injuries from the fall off her horse and for the first time in her life bedridden for over a month in serious pain, he wasn’t there for her at all. That was the final
straw. It was just a matter of time. It was a marriage that ran its course. He’s got him a young one to look up to him now and Madonna the same. LOL
The middle photo of them both says it all – that must have been taken near the end!
I can’t believe she got him to get a circumcision. I wonder if he was allowed to keep his stones when they divorced? 🙂
If I remember correctly, there was a bit about Ritchie’s past in a Madonna biography that stated that he likes to dramatize his “rough” childhood. He came from an upper-class family and was all in all a good boy (wow, weed and booze, so awful?!) but now he tries to spin it to make him look cooler or edgier, supported by the films he makes about violence and men brawling all the time. I just don’t buy what he says about his childhood. Even his father debunked rumours once when Guy himself said he was expelled from school because of drugs and his father claimed it wasn’t. As for his “figuring out yourself” life slogan. Oh he figured it out alright, with the help of his powerful rich friends. As will his children. When you are born so privileged, it’s hard to not succeed in life.
There are rumours that he abused Madonna. I don’t know, it could be judging Madonna likes men who can “handle” her temper (even Beatty who shut her foolery down vocally).
People like to demean Madonna so bad they’ll believe anything negative. She’s a sucker for love and romance and she truly worked on her marriages. Before they got married they courted each other through letters for an entire year, that doesn’t seem like a woman who just uses a man for pleasure. If you see the DVD of her Re-invention tour you’ll notice how devoted she is to Guy, for instance staying up late while going through a grueling touring schedule. I think she just picks out guys who are more in control than she is but because she’s a woman, people love to pick on her being controlling instead. It’s easier to understand the woman is the bitch and the man has to suffer…I know she’s a vain narcissist but that doesn’t mean that once in a while she’s able to love someone else other than herself (her kids, husbands…). If he thinks it was a soap-opera, he was acting the part with her! As if he didn’t know what he was getting into when dating Madonna. He always pretends he didn’t care for her fame and this and that but when you meet her at one of your rich friends’ parties, you must know she’s important.
Also, it’s said that he was as into Kaballah as she was or even more so for him to allow the circumcision must mean he wanted it himself too. Men don’t fool around with their most prized possesion just to please a woman. Again, something to blame Madonna for: taking away manhood because she’s such a ballbuster. Please, I think she’s very obedient when dating men like Penn and Ritchie and now she’s sick of it so she chooses boys who she can shape or mold instead of bending herself to their careers or lifestyle.
Thank you for confirming my thoughts on his background. When I was reading about his philosophy of “f*ck school” I was thinking that I could have sworn that he was from money, so of course school isn’t important when you have a rich family to fall back on.
And I too dislike how the woman is always painted up as the villain and the man is look on as an helpless innocent. Even when he or both of them are guilty, the woman always gets the majority of the guilty/hatred thrown at her.
Isn’t that so true?
Oh he comes from an extremely good background (there were barons in that lineage!).
I also find it funny how he went out of his way to say he just wanted the divorce to come through and didn’t want anything from her but raked in a good deal of her money anyway even though he didn’t need it and could give it back to her easily. But of course, he “deserved” that money because he had to live with that shrew. People spin it to please their own ideas =)
Ditto.
His father was an officer in the defense forces. He’s a “Mockney” of the highest order.
On his stance at school, perhaps if he’d listened to wiser heads, we wouldn’t have been subjected to his bloody films!
I like your analysis and I agree with it. It’s a pity Madonna can’t find a guy who knows that to be strong isn’t equal to abusive asshole.
I must say, that is an interesting and rather refreshing perspective on Madonna. I do remember how wistful she was about Sean after the divorce, about how she had loved doing his laundry. And Lord knows the man is a major asshat.
Yes, the Penn-marriage. They were like Taylor and Burton, Pitt and Jolie. Complete superstars who were “chased” by the paps (in reality she called them and Penn hated it not knowing his own wife was the one who rang them up, it was a big part of their break-up). Don’t even get me started on the gun shooting during their own bloody wedding =D. She was lovestruck with him and his bad-ass attitude and vice versa. He went jogging with her even though he hated it but at the same time he could demean her and abuse her in public and still even after the divorce she calles him the love of her life (Blond Ambition DVD). And you’re right. Madonna tried to be his wife and be more domestic and start a family (he really wanted children). Problem was that she also wanted a career. She choose the latter and became bigger and bigger and Penn became, well a bigger asshole =). Aaah, I could write so much but I’m going to stop now =D.
Sidenote:
Although I like Ritchie (good but no genius) as a filmmaker, he’s a pretty lousy boyfriend. He dumped his rich girlfriend of 7 years (forgot her name and don’t have my biographies at hand) for Madonna and then tries to claim he didn’t found her, her fame or fortune special. I think a big part of the appeal was her status and attitude. Madonna is not known to be a conventional beauty and judging by Ritchie’s taste, she wouldn’t fit esthetically in that department.
I once read a story by a guy who dated Madonna before Guy. He was a nobody really, anti celeb, wannabe screenwriter or something, but basically a doorman at a bar. He said they dated long distance and she was sweet and doting and wrote letters to him when they were apart. He said she lived a quiet life for the most part and that they would break up and get back together. He hated her fame and I think she liked him because he didn’t use her for celebrity.
yes, he is a bit of a poser. I really like him, but he is from a privileged background with minor aristocracy in his lineage, and I think his mother is even titled.
I’m sure he went through a rebellious phase, but please…
NM i agree with you. esp. what you said on ritchie but i never knew how his granfather debunked his ~edgy~retelling of his past. lmfao. anyway and madonna has always said that she likes macho kind of men and that one should never beg before her or get down on his knees. i agree she used to be rather passive. i fucking hate sean penn and how he still gets jobs after having physically abused her. did ritchie physically abuse her too?
I don’t know if Ritchie abused her but Lainey wrote something really vague when writing about Ritchie and Madonna with the “falling of the horse” accident which made me think if maybe he got too physical. It was well publicized that he didn’t give one rat’s ass about her pain telling her “to cheer up, you’re strong” I’m paraphrasing here but that was the gist of it. I don’t want to accuse though, I don’t have any real info on that…
If I ever find that Lainey post again, I’ll save it and post it on another Madonna thread =).
As always, well stated.
Sorry, but this just sounds to me like another one of these “poor Madonna” defense pieces written in the tone of “I’m not a fan or anything, but you’ve got to admit…” nonsense.
You mean a vain, hypocritical narcissist is hard to live with? WHO KNEW!
I remember her taking public swipes at him and I can’t believe he just sat there and took it. At the premiere of his movie, Revolver, a reporter asked him what the title meant, and before he could answer, Madonna spat out, “It’s the revolving door of YOUR ego.” He just said nothing and looked down.
Coming from her, that’s rich. Everything the woman does is about ego, but God forbid anyone else try to maintain his/her own self-worth around her. I read her brother’s book and he talks about how she enjoys trying to break people down. She may play nice to get people around her, but then, out comes the nasty, ultra-competitive person who needs to be the center of everything all the time. Ultimately, it seems there’s only room for one person in Madonna’s life and that’s her.
Spare me. Guy is no wimp. He is in many ways a male chauvinist. Even her brother who wrote not such nice things about Madonna could not stand Ritchie and said Madonna seemed to be really trying in the marriage to be Mrs. Guy Ritchie. Two tough people in a marriage don’t always work. She wrote beautiful ballads about her love for him in the first years of their marriage.
I don’t paint either one as evil nor either one as perfect in this marriage.
Uhhh, it’s my opinion based on her OWN actions and her brother’s book. She liked taking a public swipe at Guy, and he said nothing about it. I don’t think Guy is an angel, that’s for sure, but I do think Madonna has some issues and comes off as a narcissistic, nasty person.
The most telling incident was when her brother Chris went to Madonna’s Kimnono party, and his kimono caught on fire. He talked about how Gwyneth was helping him put out the fire, while Madonna showed very little concern for him. He said she was upset that he was out of costume and making her look bad at her own party. Sorry, but if this is true–their own father confirmed the book was valid, and it was never denied by Madonna or Gwyneth–then, she is a class-A, nasty person.
Guy also seems like a piece of work and I never said otherwise. Chris told how Guy made many homophobic jokes/statements, and that he was definitely lying about his background. But, then Madonna, is such a hypocrite for saying she supports gays (or exploits them, according to Chris) and then dates an openly homophobic person. Seriously messed up twosome.
Trudy styler set them up. Guy dumped his girlfriend like a hot potato and the rest is history. Guy cashed his cheque and owns Cecil beaton’s former home, which is also one of the finest shooting estates in the country. its only a few miles from trudy and sting’s elizabethan pile. All provided by madonna. He went to an exclusive school and his mother has a title.
Guy Ritchie. Salt and large pinch of come to mind….
Well said NM9005
NM, I agree. Very well said.
i feel she likes strong guys then she again wants to be/become the boss in the couple:look the pics!
in the begining,she’s proud of him after, it’s all for her and she’s the boss
Hydrangeas are awesome 🙂
Awesome!!!
I want to join the hydrangea fan club too!
Up with hydrangeas! Hydrangea POWAH!
Thank you NM for such a thorough and well-written post!!!!!!! I couldn’t agree with you more.
Whoa. He got CIRCUMCISED for her? Wow. That’s just…..crazy as HELL.
Madonna is one of the most famous women of the last century.
Could he really not have foreseen what would happen?
I can’t help but focus on the penis issue. Is there proof that he really got circumsized for her? I cannot see any grown man (especially one that’s been accused of being a douchebag)being willing to hack off a piece of his manhood for a woman. Yikes! I mean, what if they botched it? What if it got infected? What if it took all the sensitivity away? Eww, ewww, ewwwww!
And I know alot of girls say ewww to an uncut penis, as did I the first time I saw my husband. I don’t know if it’s chemistry or the intact penis, but he is the best lover ever. And I’ve had some experience . . .lol
I like him. Her, not so much at all. Glad he has moved on. Bet his spirit benefits.
my ex also had to get the procedure done and I thanked him for it and he still thanks me for egging him on to do it.
he was 29 when he had it done
in this case 2 strong personalities, they gave it a go and have moved on.
I wonder how much $$ he got in the divorce.
Too much for somebody who claims he didn’t need anything:
http://www.edivorcepapers.com/divorce-settlement/madonna-divorce-settlement.html
The last part is the best and most insightful.
“I’m glad I made money, in other words.”
Sums up his greed just fine.
Holy Moly. No wonder he had no hesitation marrying her. I noticed he knocked up his young girlfriend, had a baby, but isn’t marrying her. LOL He’s no dummy.
That was so extra tacky of him to say that part about the money
At the beginning of their marriage I didn’t know who he was, and I thought something like “she is too cool for him”, when they did split up, I thought He was the coolest one.
He is hawt!!!
Somebody somewhere else summed it up nicely: She wanted to marry a toff and live a toff’s life, but she picked about the only toff trying so hard to be an East End gangster. I think there’s some truth in it.
i always think it’s sad that even though he was Lourdes’s father for 10yrs, they don’t appear to have kept up contact.
It’s sad to me that he talks about his ‘2 children’ rather then 3.
I know she was a step daughter, but divorcing the parent shouldn’t also mean divorcing the kids.
I think he didn’t say 3 children to not offend Carlos Leon, as far as I know it was Lola who wanted Madge to make “peace” with Guy, because she has a good relationship with him.
You don’t know if they say hi on the phone and talk. I’m sure there’s probably some contact. Guy comes to NY to see the kids. We aren’t privy to see any of his visitation in the states or in England. He might see Lola occasionally. Guy and Lola’s dad got on well. But Lola has a father she is extremely close to and she would be off with her dad too. For all we know there was friction with her stepfather as she grew older. Who knows. She’s a teen and involved in her own life now. Guy is very private and really doesn’t say much about his own two kids — three now or even talk about his live-in girlfriend. He’s always been private and few interviews.
Love how tries to find positive things to say about his marriage to Madge but fails miserably.
Maybe I’m reading this wrong but WTF???
“I’m glad I made money, in other words. And I’m glad I got married.”
That’s the best he could come up with because it was hellish being married to the cow. I have never really liked him because he tries to pretend to be something he isn’t. He didn’t grow up in a council flat and just needs to quit acting like he did.
I bet he used Madonna to further his career just as much as she used him to fulfill her neediness.
the first three excerpts made him sound mentally unstable. unless he was half joking while he said them, nevermind he still sounds batshit. anyway what he said about his ex marriage wasn’t that bad at all.
He gave an interview when they first divorced. He was definitely different. The whole interview was like a continual stream of consciousness coming from him. He even left the interviewer in his house with all kinds of personal documents just lying there. The interview was all over the place. He seemed odd to me.