Madonna covers the latest issue of Vogue Italia, with a Mert & Marcus cover shoot that took place in her new home in Lisbon, Portugal. I’ve side-eyed the whole “celebrities moving to Lisbon” movement, but honestly… Lisbon is beautiful. And as it turns out, Madge had a good reason for moving her family there. She wanted David Banda to go to an amazing soccer school, and she carefully weighed all of her options and decided on the school in Lisbon. So there you go. Here are some highlights from Madonna’s Vogue Italia cover story:
Why she left America: “My son David, who is going to be 13 on September 24, has wanted to play soccer professionally for years. I’ve been desperate to get him into the best academies with the best coaches, but the level of football in America is much lower than the rest of the world. I saw his frustration, and I also felt it was a good time. I felt like we needed a change, and I wanted to get out of America for a minute – as you know, this is not America’s finest hour.”
Why Lisbon: “It was actually between three different cities that had soccer academies. And I thought, let me see if I could live somewhere else for a year and put my four youngest kids in a different environment, as I think it’s also important to expose them to different cultures and living in different places. So, it was between Turin, Barcelona, and Benfica in Lisbon. I went to all those places and tried to imagine myself living there. Of course, Barcelona is a super fun city, and I like Turin as well, but Turin is not really a city for children. It’s a city for intellectuals; they have incredible museums and beautiful homes, but I didn’t think it would be fun for them. I have to take everyone into account, not just whether it will be a good academy for David. So I went to Lisbon, and it seemed the best all-around choice.”
Why Portugal is great: “It’s steeped in history, and the Portuguese empire has made its dent on the world. The architecture is amazing. It’s also the birthplace of slavery, and so there are musical influences which come from Angola and Cape Verde, and also from Spain. And then on top of all of that, one of my favourite things to do in the whole world is to ride horses. I live in Lisbon, in Lapa, but when I go horse-riding I go to Comporta, I go to friend’s houses, I go to Alcácer. There are lots different areas outside of Lisbon to ride. Whenever my son doesn’t have a soccer match on Sunday, then that becomes an adventure day, and we would pick a place to go riding.”
The Portuguese influence on her new album: “I always say three f’s rule Portugal: fado, football and Fatima. It’s also a very Catholic country, which suits me just fine.”
Life as a soccer mom: “Any woman who is a soccer mom could say it kind of requires you to have no life in a way, because things change from week to week and games change from weekend to weekend – sometimes they’re in the city, sometimes they’re not, and we would never know until Thursday night whether they’re on Saturday or Sunday, if at twelve o’clock or later. It’s impossible to make plans, and then you feel like you’re not being fair to your other kids, or being fair to me!”
Her kids are adapting: “What’s amazing is how resilient they are and how they embraced all things, especially music, dance, soccer and sports – things that connect them to other people makes adaptation easier. They learned to speak Portuguese through doing all those things with people, not by sitting in a classroom and learning in a didactic way, like writing on a chalkboard. Instead, it’s fun, it’s interactive. Especially with Stella and Esther, who were in an orphanage for four years; they’re so happy to join in, to help out, to be part of something whether it’s a small or a large group, to be the leaders. They’re extremely resilient and full of life and joy.
She goes on to say that her goal was never to raise the next Ronaldo or Picasso or whatever, that she just wants her kids to be good people. Honestly, as she talked about her kids, she gave me serious Jolie vibes. Which I don’t hate. While her face is crazy (super-crazy, right?), I get an odd feeling from Madonna, almost like… she’s settled down a bit, in a way she’s never really “settled down” before. She’s still got four little ones at home: David, Mercy, Esther and Stella. They take up a lot of her time. As for the rest of it… it sounds like she has a really lovely life in Lisbon now. Bless.
Photo and cover courtesy of Vogue Italia.
Good for her – I am sure if millions of Americans had the money, they would leave the country and only return once Trump & Republicans are vanquished…
How are they going to get vanquished if the good people cut and run? Such cowardice.
True but I also cannot blame the people who do leave because the pain is too much.
That said, if I was American, I would stay and fight the Republicans with everything I have.
Madonna runs without understanding. That’s what this is. Theres no risk to her or her family’s safety. They have the wealth to exist fully sheltered in the states and will continue to benefit from the trump tax cuts.
She is awful. She could use her presence and voice in an articulate way if she chose to. Instead… fuel the jet and come back when life is easier and fair weathered
Americans living outside the USA can and do stay politically active. They can vote, support candidates and causes, contact their politicians at every level, attend demonstrations (travel in, or locally), come in for elections support and more. Many do, sometimes more than Americans living inside the USA (especially in strong “blue” states). It’s unfair to tar people as cowards when you don’t know their reasons for choosing their residence. Let us see a general strike in the USA and then talk.
@ Who ARE – I sincerely doubt that true ex pats are doing more for American politics than Americans within.
Who
I get your comment, but stand firm it does not apply to madonna. And it’s not everyone. That’s possibly my incorrect phrasing.
Madonna has demonstrated herself too many times on this.
Betsy, I am a dual citizen living in Canada and know for sure that we have done more – much more – than many of our friends living in prosperous, generally white, generally liberal areas (our friends, though, are not WASP, they’re generally Jewish, making it even more interesting – more like the German Jews of the 20s and 30s who still felt safely assimilated).
We’ve discussed it with them. They are angry and anxious about the situation but don’t see themselves – yet – as being inside the circle of emergency. They’re still a little bit too “business as usual” for our tastes. We disagree about the threat level but we cannot persuade them to take more action, which is frustrating. It’s not that we chose apolitical or ignorant or uneducated friends — they are kind of a random sample, as far as we can tell.
We’ve also lived in Canada for a long time, predating all of this. People can’t just “flee” to Canada, it takes years of paperwork; shorter if it’s due to work, but it’s still not some kind of overnight ride like in the 1780s.
We were politically active living in the US and remain politically active now, only in 2 countries instead of 1. It’s more, not less, work, and for it we are viewed as betraying one country or overly involved with the other, rather than as trying to support the democratic process in both as best we can.
It’s unfair to judge the work or personal situations or considerations of Americans living elsewhere. It’s unfair – it’s wrong, it’s not nice – to call anyone a “coward” or to accuse them of disloyalty. Let’s save that for Trump, McConnell, Ryan and the rest of their lot. It’s kind of a unique American notion, love us or leave us. Most Americans living abroad love their ‘home’ country, are not wealthy like Madonna, and do not float above politics like she can. People live where they need or want to live.
I am so conflicted about this. On the one hand, I understand the desire to just pack up and scram. On the other hand, the reality is that there really is no perfect place to scram to– and if we don’t change the way things are, our wretchedness is just going spill over all the more into the rest of the world. There is no safe spot, folks.
The bigger problem with “expating” (hey, have you ever noticed how rich white people are expats and outsiders, but POC are always immigrants and invaders? Hmmmm!) is that it is really only an option for people who have high paying jobs abroad or rich people who can afford all the tax shelters. The US is one of the few countries (the only country?) where you have to continue filing and paying American taxes even if you move abroad and never return. In some cases you can deduct living expenses on taxes for earned income (the key word being earned); otherwise you had better have your income sheltered. The option to sell your house and run off in protest really doesn’t exist anymore. I don’t think this is any accident.
So yeah, rich people will build their little shangrilas and throw their little masques of the red death while the rest of us suffer. I am throwing serious side eye on all of this.
FLORC thanks. Yeah, I put Madonna in a separate class, too. She can live in whatever pretty tax haven she feels like, and moving your family just to get him into “the best schools” is just another rich-person thing. Driving around so mom can ride horses in different places … OMG, so rich.
Kurt and Goldie Hawn bought a place in Canada so their son could play more hockey.
Most of us can’t do that!
What a disturbing comment.
So all the migrants of the planet should stay home to change their countries?
What for?
I have been a migrant (not a refugee) for nearly 30 years now and in your opinion I should have stayed in my home country to change things while many others were ok with it? Maybe you should get over the fact that many Americans agree with Trump, whether you like it or not is irrelevant.
And congrats to Madonna for having left, at least she put her money where her mouth is, contrarily to the ones who stayed after announcing their departure to the papers.
P.S. I just moved to another country as the UK is Brexiting. I guess I should have stayed to stop Brexit, right?
I thought about cutting out and moving the family to the Bahamas (my husband came with a house there) but I’d rather stay an help fight the good fight. I came to the US and became a citizen for a reason.
She’s not leaving because of what’s happening. She’s leaving for her child. Now if I had the opportunity and money to move to Lisbon for my child to have an opportunity to learn something they loved, I would probably do it too. She’s right it isn’t the US’ finest hour either. From a practical, albeit incredibly wealthy point of view, move now with 4 of her kids small give them the opportunity to live a different perspective, and then come back and perhaps it will be better.
@SilverUnicorn – you’re making it personal to you when it should be clear that I’m talking about wealthy Americans who up and leave when America needs them.
And if you had read down thread you’d see where I explicitly said that it makes sense to me for people who would be negatively affected by his policies to leave. Like migrants. Like refugees.
I’m moving to Canada and I don’t think i’m a coward. My children need healthcare and an environment safe from guns. Something America has made quite clear that we’re not interested in.
I want to clarify my comment.
Instead of saying she runs… I mean she speaks and acts before truly understanding an issue. Theres ab entitlement and disconnect.
She could have left it at soccer, but she kept talking. Then it became about her son and jumping ship until she feels her country can become beneficial again. Like seeing your house is on fire and leaving. If another person fixes the crisis you will return. If not… new house somewhere else. That is how I see her comment. Her specifically.
And dual citizen here too. It’s possible to leave, but who bails on your home when it’s in crisis?
@betsey – “cowardice”? What a privileged point of view. Try telling that to the thousands of non-white people who feel specifically targeted by this administration and it’s emboldened sycophants. People of color cannot even barbecue, or grocery shop, or go to school or LIVE in their own houses now without some #hashtagbecky calling the police on them. I have Hispanic friends in southern border states who are legal civilians yet are constantly being targeted and told to go “back home”. I am terrified for myself and others in this situation and I would move in a heartbeat if I could. If that is cowardice to you then so be it.
In Portugal, we have gone from a Trump-like government to a leftist-socialist coalition that is doing a lot of good work. It is a country in need of change. It can go from extremely progressive politics (decriminalisation of drugs for instance – we are a model for solving rampant drug use) to a very conservative and demanding government for the less privileged (which is what we had before). We had one of the longest dictatorships of Europe and the country is still suffering form that: very rich privileged families in power and an under-educated population (I mean, even those who go to school and uni sometimes come from unschooled families, or first generation schooled).
As I have ancestry here going back centuries –
thank you Hopi and Cherokee ancestors- there is no way I would cut and run from this land. I will stay and make a nettle and a nuisance of myself to Trump, the Kochs and all the rest of their greedy, bloody minded ilk, even if the best I can do is be like a really annoying little persistent gnat.
Only job requirements would get me out of here.
Well said, and I completely agree.
I guess Madge figures she does more of an impact in the world if she focuses on raising her kids the best she can. That in itself may be more fulfilling and make a more direct impact in the world than dealing with politicians…i LOVE the pic of tbe black hat and dress, i think she looks very pretty there.
Ha! Funny how none of these celebrities ever mention that Portugal has a 10 year tax holiday for new residents (under certain conditions). All of the rest is blah blah blah bull, imo.
Ha! Really? Yeah, I bet that’s up there on their list of reasons why, FCOL.
I have to say… It’s so weird to read about my area of the planet for the first 18 years of my life and then from 22 to 27… I was born and raised in Lisbon and my whole family is from there and the region of Alentejo. I have always said it is – WAS – the best kept secret of Europe,
Portugal is beautiful indeed. It is also very conservative and not great for women at work – a sort of a subdued, deeply ingrained sexism and racism but with very mild emotional tones so everything becomes acceptable and accepted. Not my cup of tea. But the country itself is beautiful with a huge artistic life. The literature is fantastic and the football is great. I understand why so many people are going there, with the addition of tax evasion and super cheap prices + great food.
I was recently told that the Portuguese are now refusing to speak English as a reaction to the invasion of foreigners who are making life difficult: higher rents, lots of traffic, crowded transports… Such a shame.
Sounds like the scourge of gentrification has reached Portugal.
Yes, it has indeed. But I don’t like the term “gentrification”. The world is changing and with the new, more comprehensive ways of living (working from home, the internet, nomadism) cities change too. It can be a good thing for Portugal to see new ways of living and appreciating what was considered old, too traditional, or simply uninteresting. We are a very uneducated people.
However, urban planning has to be the next big government program because otherwise Lisbon is going to be a living hell.
We just came back from 3 weeks in Portugal and only one of the four of us (me) had some halting Portuguese. We travelled all around, found the country glorious, interesting and evocative (we prefer to poke around and ride bikes rather than go on tours). The people were fantastic, and even those who did not have some English or French (my other language) were delightful. I noticed – in quite pronounced comparison to my previous visit in 2011 – that everyone, from the cities like Porto and Lisbon to the small towns in the Alentejo and Algarve – was incredibly proud of the country and its progress. There was, in addition to all the other positives that people here have mentioned (great food, football, history good and bad, architecture, art and nature) a wonderfully positive vibe to the place. I would seriously consider retiring there as an expat if I could. I am CAnadian, so don’t have the flee impulse others have mentioned here.
Yep, the Portuguese Empire really made it’s dent in the world, colonizing, murdering, exploiting and enslaving africans to work on their gold colony, Brazil. If you find their history interesting, ok, but glamourizing what was a tragedy for millions it isn’t cool. Be sure that in every church filled with gold in Portugal, slaves were the ones digging for it.
I am Portuguese and completely agree. Completely rubbed me the wrong way.
@Slowsnow I am Brazilian, so you can imagine my “wtf” moment.
@Char. Totally.
Madonna has always been a me first opportunist. This is just more of the same. I read this because of the tie to Portugal, not because of her. I’ve never cared for her.
Me too, “slavery started here so we have great music” is tone deaf, so to speak.
Char,
And she has Black kids!!! I know that she is extremely wealthy so they will be protected to a degree but this gave me pause, as did this statement, it was the birthplace of slavery so they have musical influences from Angola – WTF??? Slowsnow is from there and hand has expressed affection and criticism of her homeland and stated that racism is one of the main social problems. Madonna’s myopia never ceases to amaze me.
As I said below, she is not completely wrong. Much like the UK with India, Portugal has in return of the very questionable things it did in the ex-colonies, welcomed Angolan and Mozambican culture. In theory. In fact, we only started acknowledging that culture and a very specific side of it – money – when we were in deep crisis (from 2010 to 2016) and had to turn to Angola for business.
Also, the Prime Minister now, António Costa, is of Indian descent (from the ex Portuguese comptoir Goa). Someone who didn’t like him in my family called him “Samosa”… As you can imagine it made my skin crawl and now one batted an eye. In Portugal we’re still in the 50’s in terms of ethics.
Yeah CHAR watch out with your comments about Portugal.
As a portuguese and african europe i am proud of your history and city.
@JOANA As a Brazilian, I’m not proud of the way our country was exploited on the benefit of others, also not proud of slavery and it’s repercussions until today in our society and as a free country and not a colony anymore, I feel I have the right to manifest those opinions. Your history is the history of conquerors, ours is the history of those who suffered with it.
Right? The “birthplace of slavery,” like it was the birthplace of jazz or democracy or some other laudable thing.
Jazz came from slavery and democracy in Greece was also held in account of slavery, so…
@Char: I am Brazilian and my reaction was: WTF?!
They “colonized” 8 countries…
Whenever I hear the word colonization from someone, I say: you mean invasion and genocide, right?
I love Portugal. It is a beautiful country. But let’s not whitewash history…
I wonder what they did with all that gold they took from us… #sarcasm
I don’t think anyone thinks “colonizing” is positive or even a neutral word anymore. It carries the negative connotations of what it is.
@Miss M Exactly!!!!!
@Betsy: people still whitewash it. It IS uncomfortable to associate someone’s country with so much destruction to other Nations. I get it. But …people are still in denial.
I say this as a person who has friends all over and when I was talking to an English friend of mine recently about culture, language, etc… I just reminded him that his country invaded many countries and he paused for a second and then went to dismiss it and put emphasis on something else giving a positive spin. In my opinion, the word “colonizing” still doesn’t carry the negative weight that it should.
Say what you want about Madonna, but she is one of the few celebrities who values the education of her children.
She actually seems like good mom. Letting her kids grow up as kids and doing things for them. The younger ones look really happy to me. I do hope that David is getting to spend a lot of time with his Dad and other siblings too.
Very true. I keep forgetting she has so many kids. Good for her for realizing the value of an education.
This being Madonna, however, you have to acknowledge that Portugal has advantageous tax laws for somebody in her position. It’s not hard to believe that is the real reason she chose Portugal over Spain or Italy.
Yes, otherwise Italy should have had a big edge because of her own ethnicity. They play a lot of soccer there, too… But taxes are quite high.
I wonder how Madonna’s Portuguese is going? Or does she just have her kids interpret for her? 🙂
I will never not love Madonna, she has been an inspiration for a long time to me and has taken me out of some dark times. I have been to Portugal several times and it is a beautiful country that still feels very old-world. I am glad she has taken time out of the mental situation that is America and focused on something so good, her children
Same here!
I just…
In the first, I was going to be very harsh about her cutting and running in America’s hour of need. If African American or other minority or LGBTQ+ people want to leave America because they feel personally threatened, godspeed. But for people with power to cut and run and leave America to the fascist dogs? No!
But she’s not left for that reason at all, so I guess good for her being a dedicated mother. And she’s not a stupid woman which makes her stupidity and vanity all the more depressing. I wish instead of inflating her face to a Tom Cruise degree that she had carved a path out of more or less natural aging. Buck the trend of turning into a wax chipmunk sex doll and end up in your eighties looking like a human.
Agreed. When I see her face now it just depresses me because I thought she had more confidence than that.
Those photos look good but I saw her in motion recently and she really did look like she had on a cheap, rubber Halloween mask and the only thing I recognized were her sad, scared eyes peeking out.
It would be interesting to know if she continues to donate to American candidates and causes.
Also, she still has to file US tax returns like any other American living abroad. Portugal would be 1st beneficiary of her taxes though.
I didn’t know she had lived in the US for years..I thought she lived in London
I think she’d been here full time since her divorce.
I thought the same, and then remembered she had some sort of dustup with her neighborhood in New York, over parking I think. I will say she seems to lay pretty low when not out promoting something.
Picking up sticks because a 12-year-old wants to play soccer? Whatever.
I don’t know, it’s not like she doesn’t have the means. At least she’s not sending him there alone, like gymnast parents in the US seem to do, for example.
I’m no fan of Madonna but this seems pretty innocuous. And it’s not like she’s making major sacrifices to do this, something tells me she would not be as likely to do it if the location wasn’t super appealing to her.
I’m not going to knock her for this either, it’s really not that uncommon here in the States to move for a child’s sporting ‘needs’: soccer, gymnastics, football, ice skating, dancing, etc. Even for parents without means.
Its not uncommon in Soccer/Football even for poor families if the youth shows promise. Baracelona moved Messi’s family to Bracelona so Messi could train at La Masia (Barcelona FC’s Youth Academy), they also paid for his medical bills. Typical American response.
How is that a “typical American response”? I think American parents tend to be bat crap crazy about sports. Hockey moms, soccer parents, wrestling parents, football dada…. many sports have parents here who are absolutely nuts.
@Betsy Typical American response thinking only rich kids move to play soccer. Read up Messi’s story. he moved to ARgentina from Spain and he was not rich at all.
I dunno my friend’s daughter is a great gymnast and they’ve actually talked about uprooting their family so they can be closer to places with more gymnastic opportunities than where they live…She’s 14 and the others are 11 and 9…
I so would. My kids are extremely talented soccer players and if given the chance I would move to see what happened. Once in a lifetime opportunity
She forgot to mention Portugal has a very advantageous tax system for foreign nationals while Spain & Italy will ream you.
Love or hate Madge but her children seem to have turned out ok, none of them seem to be wild child types. I know there has been issues with Rocco wanting to live with his Dad in London but in that instance i see a teenager wanting to be a bit more independent without Mummy trying to control everything and lets face it Madonna is famous for being controlling.
I wonder if she likes Pedro Costa films?
I wonder if Pedro Costa likes her 🙂
Must be nice to be able to just pack up and leave the country because your teenager wants to play soccer. If she wants the best education for her kids, Madonna can afford it no matter where she is. This isn’t the first time she moved away, and she most likely won’t live in Portugal forever
Taxes. Period. Of course Portugal is a beautiful country and there are worse places to live in. But taxes, first and foremost.
Dear Madonna,
PLEASE STOP F*CKING WITH YOUR FACE!
😩
amazing!!
“It’s also the birthplace of slavery.” This really sounds wrong, given that slavery definitely existed in ancient Mesopotamia and probably earlier. Also: why is that a reason to move there? This woman is ridiculous.
Slavery has always existed in different ways and with different sets of rules according to geographic and time idiosyncrasies.
However, and unfortunately, Portugal was one of the countries that set the slave trade that still deeply affects our society. Apparently Portuguese slave traders were particularly ruthless – not that others weren’t. And this ties in with the black population in Europe, South America, North America etc.
What she means is that, much like in the UK with India, there is a strong culture of the ex-colonies, namely Angola and Mozambique. She is not completely wrong but the music from those countries has only now started to have some mainstream recognition. I have seen a black TV presenter for the first time two years ago in TV and only two or three black actors in our typical soap operas.
@OG Cleo,
I think that she is referring to the Transatlantic Slave Trade, or “Triangle Trade” that existed between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. But I agree with your points, and that those are not reasons to celebrate the country.
Ah this explains it- Guy Ritchie posted a picture of David on Instagram along with his younger siblings and I wondered why David was in a Portuguese kit!
I’m side-eying her Turin comment. I think I get what she was trying to say, but people in Turin have kids. And I’m sure those kids have nice lives and have fun and enjoy themselves.
But I loved Portugal so you do you Madonna.
She is right–the level of football in the U.S. is much lower. In fact, it is DISMAL. Horrible. Terrible. Horrendous. It may have gotten better, but Americans think they know better and this is one area, one sport where they do not know best…simply put.
Hope little David gets to develop his talents further in Portugal.
Question (no snark intended): Aren’t these football academies super exclusive places as in they one take on extremely talented kids? At least it seems to be like this here in Germany. No, wait, that’s what they’re communicating to us plebs. Does anyone know if her son is that good? Can I look forward to stupid interviews in 10 years about whether he profits from his mother’s work ethic / confidence during penalty shoot-outs??
These teams are super hard to get into, specially Benfica which is a high profile team and academy. Even if we know someone who knows the president of the academy that is by no means a direct way in. However, this being Madonna and her check book… Not sure. That’s how she got her kids in the French school in London, where there is a huge waiting list. She became an important patron and that’s that.
But you might hear about him in the future! He is so young. With the great teaching he’s getting he is bound to make it. Which is great for him anyway.
Beckham’s kids were dropped from Arsenal Academy. I assume most Euro Youth Academies really don’t give a shit who your parents are, they want to develop talent.
Sometimes it may be due to connections, but there are genuinely kids who don’t come from privileged backgrounds that get through academies because of their talent.
Honestly, saying Americans think we know better about soccer is being generous. Quite frankly, most people here just don’t care about the sport at all. Football and baseball are the moneymakers here, and they’re the ones that receive the majority of public and private funding where schools are concerned. The interest has to be actively developed because they aren’t going to pick it up in media.
If that’s the case, why are they so vocal about having an American coach and causing a huge hullabaloo about having a successful, foreign coach? Not being argumentative, but genuinely curious. Alexis Lalas need to be booted. Using unqualified people to boost interest in the sport may not be the way to go.
In fact, the USWNT is the best football export the country has, not the men’s.
Honestly, I would think it has to do a lot with the xenophobia running rampant in the country right now. A lot of people are indoctrinated with the idea that America is the Best Country On Earth (TM), so any implication that we need “outsider” help to achieve our goals is viewed unattractively. America is big and ethnocentric enough to pretend it does it all on its own; we don’t have that sense of interdependence between nations that are literally a day’s drive from one another.
Totally agree about the USWNT, though. But that has more to do with American sports culture being incredibly sexist and always promoting male athletes ahead of the women.
@Veronica, thank you for responding. I enjoyed reading your point of view. 🙂
That indoctrination is annoying; hopefully more and more people in and out of the country come to the realization. Interdependence and collaboration may be the way to go.
I think Madonna’s love for her children and her emphasis on the importance of their education is beautiful. She clearly relishes her role as a mother and her children appear to be happy (and so far, scandal-free…never hear anything bad about her oldest daughter attending university in Michigan).
I have always enjoyed her music but now I enjoy her as a person too 😊
I loved Lisbon when I visited. It was only for 3 days and the weather wasn’t all that great (I think I visited in October) but I could easily go back to Lisbon and also visit other parts of the country. I don’t know much about the practicalities of living in Portugal but it seems like a great place to live on the surface. I am hoping to return at some point.
And while I’m not well versed on Portuguese history, I do know like Spain it was under a dictatorship until the 1970s, Salazar was his name. Don’t know much about him but I’ve always wanted to learn more about Portugal in general.
I think about this a lot. Do I flee or do I stay and fight for my country? I am staying.
I don’t have the resources to leave, although it is tempting to go to any country without so many fcuking guns.
I task anyone to pinpoint locales with pristine histories. Humanity is, and has always been, riddled with horrors. In the future, we will be embarrassingly laughed at and shunned for poor decision-making. Lisbon is beautiful. It has a long history, and I’d love to spend time there or anywhere with centuries of growth. I’d love to travel with my kids observing the good the bad and the ugly work of us earthlings.
I must say that I appreciate articles of Madonna over videos…does she still sport that manufactured accent lol?
Thank you! “I task anyone to pinpoint locales with pristine histories. Humanity is, and has always been, riddled with horrors.” Americans, young & old, don’t seem to realize that we didn’t invent slavery. Our educational institution in this country SUCKS so hard. Have fun boycotting & “cancelling” every country/region who engaged in slavery and/or stole land from a native people. Get a grip.
PS: Lisbon is super cool
I don’t think we should drag her for leaving. As a soccer mom myself, if I could move to Portugal and put my kid in a fancy academy, I would do it in a heartbeat. I got the impression that getting away from the Deplorables was just an added bonus.
That, and the very generous tax system.
I lived outside the US for six years and it was an amazing opportunity to live in a completely different culture. We in the US tend to think the entire world revolves around us. Well, it doesn’t. Why shouldn’t Madonna live in another country if she wants to experience another culture for a period of time?
Wow her face. I would not know this was Madonna if you did not point that out. She certainly sounds like a normal mom here. I remember Madonna saying all sorts of crazy stuff when she was younger but here she sounds like any mom from school.
I am so jealous….we had to leave Portugal due to the economic crises and lack of jobs in 2011. I hope one day we can go back to our country.
Yes Madonna, leave America. Let the peasants do all the protests and dirty work, then return when all is well again.
Does anyone know if Madonna is still doing the Kabbalah thing?
I say good riddance….I have always found her to be incredibly narcissistic and a boring artist.
Bye, Felicia. I’m sure the millions of poor minorities who will actually suffer from this administration will appreciate it.
I wonder if the “birth of slavery” quote came out wrong due to translation? Because if not that’s crazy tone deaf… and she isn’t always the best at interview, but that’s a little too dumb for Madonna.
And I’d move to Lisbon 100% any time any day. It’s a lovely city.
“I always say three f’s rule Portugal: fado, football and Fatima. ” well….. that’s an actual portuguese saying, not something she says
Well she doesn’t look.like Madge anymore but she looks good in side views. Good interview actually.
I thought her son didn’t like or live with her? If they are able to move around, so be it. Not my business to judge.
Rocco does not live with her. He lives with his father in London.
Well, she’s gone, the US is getting better already.