Madonna lives full-time in Portugal these days, to the surprise of many. She’s also been spending a lot of time in Malawi the past few years especially. She adopted four children from Malawi, the two older kids, David Banda and Mercy James, and the two youngest girls, Stelle and Estere. I tend to believe that Madonna’s Malawi adoptions were a little bit hokey and there were a lot of legal shenanigans and payoffs made, and as part of that deal, Madonna likely has to bring David, Mercy, Stelle and Estere to Malawi a certain amount of time. So, no surprise, Madonna took her whole family down to Malawi for the Thanksgiving holiday. Lourdes is still in college, but even she had time off, enough to fly down. Madonna posted the photo of her kids on her social media, with this message:
What I am Most THANKFUL for! My Children have led me down roads and opened doors I never imagined I’d walk through.♥️ Fame , Fortune and Records Broken could never equal that which I treasure and value most. #blessed #grateful #family 🌍 Happy ThanksGiving from Malawi!
What most startled me was Rocco Ritchie looking so grown up – the last time I saw him, he was just some punk-looking kid. He’s 18 years old now, and instead of fleeing his mom’s grasp, he’s actually hanging out with her and his siblings in Malawi? That’s kind of cool. It’s a good lesson for Madonna: her kids will come back to her, even if they all go through a stage of hating her and hating her controlling ways. Anyway, I sort of love this photo. It’s really sweet.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Madonna’s Twitter.
Really nice to see all the siblings together. They seem like good kids.
I have no evidence but I sort of feel manipulated by the family photo.
I feel the same way. It is hard to put my finger on why though.
I know what you mean. It’s not possible at all to tell from a photo like that what the actual dynamics are.
I am admittedly feeling cynical as my teens are capable of looking happy and loving for a moment on camera for me then wanting nothing to do with me or each other for the rest of the day. And recently I commented to a friend about how amazing her vacation photos looked and the first thing she said was “yeah, you clearly didn’t see the resentment in my kids for my attempts at forced family fun.” Sigh.
yeah, there was one family vacation we went on and people are like “looks like you had a great time!” when really we all wanted to strangle each other the whole time.
I don’t bother trying to force my kids to have ‘quality time’ as a family anymore. I just let them do what they want and then everyone’s happier.
I’ve seen enough ‘happy’ family photos featuring children who were miserable (in one case abused by a parent) to not take this at face value. Maybe they genuinely are one big happy family – but it will take more than one posed photo shared on social media, to convince me.
I actually think her kids seem well adjusted and that is probably a decent parent. I think we all see what we want to see. It’s just a picture but they all look well taken care of and happy. There is no difference between her pictures and our own. How many of you are posting pictures of your family at your worst moments? I know I’m not.
It’s probably the fact that people dislike and are tired of her coloring the reactions. If one of the more likeable older famous ladies posted this kind of photo it wouldn’t be seen as shady.
I don’t see how posting a picture on Thanksgiving could appear shady regardless of who posts it. It’s a freaking holiday. Who out there didn’t post a picture? The picture says absolutely nothing. Sometimes a picture is just a picture.
+1 Gigi. Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving too, SOME CHICK.
Rocco has his arm around Merci & she’s beaming & leaning into him. They seem close. David always looks happy in the pictures I’ve seen as he does here. Madonna is leaning towards Rocco & while he could put an arm around her he does not. To my eyes in general things are better. I believe the kids are fine but Madonna has issues surrounding Rocco and while things are better she’s too clingy and he wants her to be less so.
@Cran Madonna is not in the photo. It seems like you’re confusing her daughter, Lourdes with her 🙂
It reminds me of a “United Colours of Benetton” ad. It’s like she is trying so hard to show how inclusive she is. Stop trying so hard Madonna.
This is her family. Why would her posting a Thanksgiving pic of them (a perfectly normal activity) be seen as trying hard to look inclusive?
What s ridiculous comment. I will leave it at that.
Then why don’t you go after Charlize Theron and Sandra Bullock. They’ve adopted black children too. Madonna may be a grasping, self-obsessed famewhore but she appears to be a doting and caring mother who has done a great job raising her kids. It’s Thanksgiving…time for gratitude, not snark.
Dear Sam, I don’t care about Madonna. But she always tried to support people of all colours, so if it looks like an ad, it’s your problem not hers.
I can’t tell if she’s a good parent or not, cos her son went to live with his dad, but came back, then went… Who knows? Seems like a decent mum, but i cannot judge her parenting skills based on photos. We’ll see what the kids will make of themselves.
Thanks Goldie I did indeed mistake Lourdes for Madonna.
I can see how you did, Lourdes is the spitting image of a young Madonna there. I had to do a double take as well.
I don’t know or care to speculate about Madonna’s mothering skills but I do love this picture of her with kids. I’m glad she shared it with us while she’s typically so private about them.
Her IG os Full of videos and pics and the kids seem happy, very well educated and Madonna seems like a good mom.
I’ll have to follow her on insta then. That’s awesome!
it’s not HER with the kids, it’s just the kids (that’s Lourdes in the middle)
I hope those kids get to know some sort of normalcy in my life. But I really came here to post on Madonna is like the female Johnny Depp. Oh my God is she wearing every single piece of jewelry she owns in that pic???
I mean… Is she really, though? I’ve never been Madonna’s biggest fan, and I know she dates inappropriately young men, but I’ve never heard of her abusing them in any way. Or being so careless with her money that she’s being sued by multiple people?
I don’t really keep up on Madonna news, so maybe I’m wrong, but Johnny Depp feels like he’s in a douche class all by himself.
These kids are not out there acting up. I think she is probably a decent parent. She also appears to have given them all a measure of stability. None of us know just like we don’t know about the people we know either. At least not 100%
I thought Boo Radley was commenting on her styling, not her family dynamc.
That’s a very sweet picture. That’s the hint about famous kids – you see them grow up just like you do your own kids and it’s so nice.
Madonna’s problem has only ever been Madonna. But I think she’s been about as good a mom that’s to be expected from a narcissist. She successfully shielded them, and in a time of instant news, she’s been able to relatively keep an arm’s length. She’s no Johnny Depp. She’s simply Madonna lol.
I haven’t seen a photo of her two middle kids, Mercy and David in long time. They look so grown up and beautiful! Great family pic.
I haven’t been paying the slightest bit of attention to Madonna for years, and I don’t do any social media, so seeing the children (well, the four eldest, anyway), so grown up is quite startling. It’s a nice photo and all the children look great.
Cute pic, I’m glad the kids are reconnecting to their birth country. Also good for her white kids to experience being a minority when they visit there.
Lourdes is half Cuban.
And your point is… ?
Meaning she already knows what it’s like to be a “minority” in America.
Why should that matter? My God, does everything have to be become a teachable moment for white people? FYI.. They already are a global minority. It’s a family.. on vacation.. let it be.
I’m black and I agree. Let these kids enjoy their holiday and vacation.
Wow Lourdes looks so much like her mom in that pic (before she messed with her face)
Lourdes just turned 22, has she not graduated from U of M?
I saw her described in 2017 as a being senior at U of M. So either she did graduate or she’s pretty close to it.
My son is 26 and still has one semester to go (he works full time).
Yeah I remember reading something about her being in senior year last year so thought that meant she graduated this year. Of course there is no age limit to graduating but if you’re a senior changes are that means you’re graduating that year. It’s ok, I was 31 when I went to grad school !
She could have taken a 5th year or is in grad school.
Lourdes transferred out of there a few years back. They’ve done a great job of keeping mum about where she goes now, so I will too. 🙂
Wow! Lourdes looks like Madonna’s Ghost of Christmas 1984. 🙂
“Fame, fortune, and records broken.” Humble, that Madge. Always has been! /s.
And it’s not that I think women should be quiet and self-effacing but that was straight up a humblebrag.
I appreciate her honesty. Through brains, hard work, discipline, and willpower, she became famous, made a fortune, and broke records.
And a little bit of appropriation along the way. 😛 I think she could’ve worded it differently.
Why does she need to be humble? She’s actually done that?
She has, it just sounds self-serving to me.
It’s hard to tell family dynamics through a gossip lens but Lourdes seems pretty grounded. She isn’t a “model” and actually bothered to get an education unlike a lot of celebuspawn. I once saw an interview with her and Madonna and Lourdes looked like she could more than hold her own with her mother.
Lourdes IS a model. She modeled for New York Fashion week in September.
I can’t believe how tall David is! He was a little boy last time I saw him in a picture. And Rocco has hair. Last time he had hair he was fighting to leave his mom and live with his Dad. When he lived with his Dad he shaved his hair very close. I guess he still lives with his Dad while the rest (barring Lola) live with their mom in Portugal?
What a sweet photo. Beautiful family. I love all of her children’s names.
Jeez she has 6 kids?!? Where the hell have I been
Like the photo of the kids. Could do without the picture of Madonna attempting to look tribal.
Madonna’s choice of clothing would be declared cultural misappropriation if she were someone else. She looks positively evil in the crown and clothing.
I will say this…
Madonna seems like a good Mama…and at least she takes her (4) children back to their homeland several times a year consistently so that they can maintain relationships with their families…
And that’s MORE than I can say about a LOT OF FAMOUS FOLKS who adopt children from other countries…
In fairness to Madge, re accusations of her bragging, I’ve broken all her records too (tee hee)
I’ve made my peace with her overweening vanity, and happily gawp at her IG to see her latest styling/fab spectacles. I love all the interesting frocks she’s been wearing since the Portugal move….’hippie in Marrakesh in 1970′ vibe. Such a relief from ‘corseted secretary in a tight skirt’
Lovely kids, they seem a really happy bunch.