Dad Speaks Out Against Madonna's Adoption Appeal

The man believed to be the biological father of Mercy, the 4-year-old Malawian girl Madonna is trying to adopt, says he he wants to raise her in his own culture.

"I want to take care of her, and I'm capable of taking care of my baby," James Kambewa told CBS's The Early Show in an interview to air Monday, the same day the court will hear Madonna's appeal of the rejected adoption.

"Mercy, she is a Malawian, so [I] need her to grow as a Malawian ... with our culture," he said.

The hearing in Madonna's appeal case will be led by the head of the judiciary in Malawi. The southern African country's High Court had previously rejected her application to adopt Mercy Chifundo James.

In his interview, Kambewa tells The Early Show that he's never met his daughter and has only seen her "in newspapers and TV, not face to face."

Madonna spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said she doesn't know if Kambewa is the girl's father and that Mercy has been in an orphanage all her life, according to the Associated Press.

The singer, 50, found Mercy, whose teenage mother had died, at Kondanani Children's Village in the town of Bvumbwe when she first visited Malawi in October 2006, the same time she found David Banda at a different orphanage.

Madonna is not required to attend Monday's hearing.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20276305,00.html

Forbes names Madonna Hollywood's hardest working mom

With earnings of $110 million in 2008, Madonna topped Forbes' list of Hollywood's hardest working mothers, followed by actresses Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The pop singer and mother of three, who was recently turned down in her bid to adopt a second child from Malawi, grossed $105 million on her tour and sold nearly a million albums in the United States. Madonna also signed several lucrative endorsement deals last year, according to Forbes.com.

"She had an incredible year in 2008," said Lauren Streib who helped to compile the list that was released on Friday.

"She had the top tour of any musician...The tour sold out around the world. So it wasn't surprising as much as it is a commentary on how successful her year was," she said.

Witherspoon, who earned an estimated $24 million last year, was second on the list, followed closely behind by Paltrow with $20 million in earnings.

In addition to her film career and raising daughter Ava and son Deacon, Witherspoon, who is divorced from actor Ryan Phillippe, is also the international spokeswoman for the cosmetics company Avon.

Paltrow's role in the blockbuster comic book film "Iron Man," which earned $580 million worldwide, and her endorsements for Estee Lauder and shoe and handbag maker Tod's propelled her to the third spot.

Streib said the list is based on estimated earnings of Hollywood mothers with at least one child. Earnings include album sales, salaries, box-office grosses and endorsements and licensing deals.

She added that for many of the women on the list endorsement deals are a significant part of their earnings.

"I think this is something that has been going on for decades now. We are seeing less and less models and more and more celebrity spokespeople. It is a big part of the business of being a celebrity," she added.

Mother of three Julia Roberts, who returned to the big screen in a starring role in the film "Duplicity," captured the fourth spot on the list, while actress Sarah Jessica Parker, who has a son with husband Matthew Broderick, rounded out the top five.

Angelina Jolie, who has six children but still earned $14 million last year, came in sixth, followed by model and television presenter Heidi Klum, who is pregnant with her fourth child.

Best actress Academy Award winner Kate Winslet, who has two children, and singer and mother of three Faith Hill also made the list, which is posted at www.forbes.com.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE53N67020090424

Madonna injured in horse tumble

Pop star Madonna has suffered "minor injuries" and bruises after falling from a startled horse on New York's Long Island on Saturday.

According to her spokeswoman, the 50-year-old singer fell when her horse was "startled by paparazzi who jumped out of the bushes" to photograph her.

Madonna was treated at a hospital in Southampton and was later released.

A previous horse-riding accident in 2005 left her with three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken hand.

She got back on a horse a couple of months later for an appearance on David Letterman's US talk show.

Helmet

Madonna was visiting friends in the Hamptons when the accident occurred, her spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said in a statement.

The singer would be having further tests and remained under observation by doctors, she added.

According to a local newspaper report, Madonna had been performing jumps and wearing a helmet when the accident occurred.

The entertainer recently returned from Malawi after her bid to adopt a second child from the country, three-year-old Chifundo James, failed.

Her lawyer has lodged an appeal against the judge's ruling.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8006734.stm

Madonna not giving up fight to adopt girl

Madonna is ready to do battle.

The singer, who has appealed a judge's rejection of her request to adopt 3-year-old Mercy James from Malawi, isn't about to give up the fight for the little girl, who, according to a source, has already called Madonna "Mummy."

The pop star's appeal is expected to be heard in the next few weeks. Plus, her side scored a "morale booster" when the Malawi Human Rights Commission decided to get involved in the star's bid to adopt, according to her lawyer Alan Chinula.

"Judge Chombo's ruling was quite a surprise and the Malawi Human Rights Commission's (investigation) confirms this," Chinula says. "We believe the honorable judge erred in her ruling because we believe the rights of the child were not fully considered."

Grace Malera, the Commission's head of legal services, says the organization is investigating whether it is true that Mercy is better off at Kondanani Children's Village, the orphanage where she has spent most of her life, than she would have been with the multi-millionaire Material Girl.

"We want to make sure that the rights of the child are fully protected," says Malera, who met with Chinula this week to discuss the judge's ruling.

Mercy's life now
Meanwhile, Mercy is under the care of officials of Madonna's Raising Malawi charity as everyone awaits the outcome of the appeal.

Fame pictures Mercy James has been reportedly asking, “Where is Mummy?”

A source in Malawi says that although Mercy is young, "she understands what's going on."

"Mercy shouted 'Mummy' when she first saw Madonna and has been asking, 'Where is Mummy? Where is Lola?' " the source tells PEOPLE, adding that Mercy bonded well with Madonna's children, especially 12-year-old Lourdes, who fought back tears when she was told Mercy was not joining them on a flight to London.

A leading child psychiatrist in Malawi, Dr. Stewart Chipendo, says that Mercy has likely already formed an attachment to Madonna, 50. "When a kid is introduced to a new person, they develop what we call 'stranger anxiety,' " he tells PEOPLE. "Once they go over that they develop what we call 'figure of attachment.' In this case, although the little girl is only 3, she understands Madonna is supposed to be her mother."

Madonna spent last week in Malawi where she and her three children — Lourdes, Rocco, 8, and David, 3 (whose adoption was approved by a different Malawian judge in 2008) — reunited with David's birth father and visited with Mercy and officials from Raising Malawi.

Following a farewell party, the clan flew to England on April 5, where Rocco and David are spending time with their father, Guy Ritchie, before the Easter holiday, while Madonna has been spotted out in London having dinner with pal Stella McCartney.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30136789/

Madonna leaves Malawi after failed adoption bid

U.S. star Madonna left Malawi on a private aircraft on Sunday after failing to adopt a second child from the African country, airport officials said.

Security forces blocked the road leading to the airport after Madonna's convoy arrived, preventing reporters from speaking to her or filming.

Madonna, who was seeking an interim adoption, appealed against a High Court decision refusing her bid to adopt a four-year-old girl named Mercy James.

Her lawyer, Alan Chinula, said she does not have to appear before the Supreme Court for the appeal.

Malawian rights groups, who accused the government of skirting residency laws when Madonna adopted David Banda in 2006, also opposed the latest adoption attempt.

They say celebrities should not be allowed to fly in and adopt children at will.

Malawi's government had supported Madonna's attempt to adopt Mercy, saying she was a worthy mother.

An AIDS epidemic in the impoverished southern African country has orphaned more than one million children and Madonna has set up a charity for Malawian children.

The star, who was divorced last year from British film director Guy Ritchie, is one of the music industry's most successful singers, with album sales of more than 200 million.

Madonna has entertained millions with sexy high-energy performances and songs like "Material Girl" and "Papa Don't Preach". She has also created controversies along the way.

In 1989, the video for "Like A Prayer", with its links between religion and eroticism, was condemned by the Vatican.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUKL510535820090405?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Madonna’s Adoption Bid Is Denied in Malawi

A Malawi court ruled on Friday that Madonna, right, cannot adopt a 3-year-old child there, Reuters reported, because she has not been a resident of the country for the last 18 months. As with Madonna’s adoption of her son David Banda, 3, completed in 2008 in Malawi, her petition to adopt a girl named Chifundo James caused critics to complain that the pop star was trying to circumvent laws banning nonresidents from adopting Malawian children. In her High Court ruling, Judge Esme Chombo warned against celebrity adoptions, saying they could lead to child trafficking. “Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect,” she said. In addition to David Banda, Madonna, who reportedly was not in the court to hear the ruling, has a daughter, Lourdes, 12, from a previous relationship, and a son, Rocco, 8, from her marriage to Guy Ritchie. Her divorce from Mr. Ritchie became final in January.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/arts/music/04arts-MADONNASADOP_BRF.html?ref=arts

Madonna's adoption ruling delayed until Friday

A Malawi court official says Madonna won't know until Friday whether she will be allowed to adopt a 4-year-old girl as her second child from the southern African nation.

Court official Thomson Ligowe confirmed that Madonna's adoption application has been adjourned by the court until the end of the week.

The 50-year-old pop star appeared in court Monday and left about an hour later. It was not immediately known whether any of the girl's relatives were present.

The one adoption case on Monday's court docket listed only the child's name — Chifundo James. The girl's name means "Mercy" in the local language.

Madonna has not commented on the adoption and did not speak to reporters Monday morning.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4Wxukw37tBz-Ycz1eS7Iitk8VtQD97890800

Air traffic controllers: Madonna arrives in Malawi

Madonna, the original Material Girl, landed in a decidedly un-material nation Sunday, flying into the capital of Malawi where she was expected to begin proceedings this week to adopt a young girl.

Air traffic controllers at the airport in the capital of Lilongwe confirmed that her plane landed Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter with reporters.

This would be the second child the 50-year-old pop star has adopted from the impoverished African country. The adoption for her Malawian-born son David, 3, was finalized last year.

A Malawian welfare official and another person involved in the adoption proceedings say the girl Madonna is hoping to adopt is about 4 years old and her unmarried mother died soon after she was born. The girl's father is believed to be alive but no other details were available. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is considered sensitive.

Madonna and the girl's uncle are expected to appear in court on Monday to sign adoption papers.

A U.S. government official confirmed that an adoption bid by Madonna, an American, was under way. The luxury lodge where Madonna normally stays in Malawi has been fully booked and visitors are being turned away.

Madonna faced harsh criticism for years over David's adoption. Children's advocacy groups accused her of wielding her wealth and influence to circumvent Malawian law requiring an 18- to 24-month assessment period before adoption.

Austin Msowoya, legal researcher with Malawi's Law Commission, played down concerns that a second adoption by Madonna would violate any laws.

He said the best interests of the child needed to be taken into account — whether that was staying in an orphanage in Malawi or getting "an education with Madonna."

"When you look at these two options, then perhaps it becomes in the best interests of the child to allow the adoption if the parents and the guardians consent to it," he told Associated Press Television News on Saturday.

But Save the Children UK said the recently divorced superstar risked sending the wrong message by going through with the second adoption.

"International adoption can actually exacerbate the problem it hopes to solve," spokesman Dominic Nutt said. "The very existence of orphanages encourages poor parents to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life."

Nutt said he was not suggesting that Madonna was doing anything wrong — but he said the whole process of international adoptions was often flawed and sometimes linked to criminal activity.

He said, barring exceptional circumstances, children should be kept in the care of their extended families or within their communities.

Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg in New York, who has not commented on the adoption reports, told The Associated Press the star would not respond to comments from Save the Children.

In a recent interview in Malawi's leading daily The Nation, the singer said she was considering another adoption but would only do it if she had "the support of the Malawian people and government."

If the adoption goes through, Madonna would become a single mother of four. She also has an 8-year-old son, Rocco, with former husband and British film director Guy Ritchie and a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.

She and Ritchie, who were married in 2000, obtained a preliminary divorce decree in November 2008.

Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while doing charity work and filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis there. She is also establishing a school for girls there.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4Wxukw37tBz-Ycz1eS7Iitk8VtQD977NE781

Madonna seeks to adopt baby girl Mercy in Malawi

Madonna's bid to adopt a second Malawian child, a baby girl called Mercy James, will be examined by a court in the southern African country next week, officials said on Friday.

The 14-month-old would be a sister for David, whose adoption by the U.S. pop star aroused controversy, and comes from the same orphanage.

"Her name is Mercy James from Mchinji Home of Hope orphanage. She has no father and mother, they both died...We finished the assessment yesterday in readiness for the courts next week," an official at the ministry of Gender and Child Development told Reuters.

Court clerks confirmed the name of the child and said that Madonna or her associates were expected to appear in court next Monday for the adoption proceedings. She is expected to arrive in Malawi over the weekend, officials said.

Some Malawians opposed David's adoption, accusing the government of skirting laws that ban non-residents from adopting children in Malawi, which has been badly hit by an AIDS epidemic.

The local Nation newspaper this month quoted Madonna, 50, as saying that Malawian friends had told her David needed a brother or sister and that she would consider adopting another child, but only with the support of the Malawian people.

David's life with the global pop star is worlds away from his village of Lipunga, where his relatives eat staple food like maize meal and meals are cooked on open fires. His father, Yohane Banda, told Reuters that he may see his son next week.

Madonna, who was divorced last year from British film director Guy Ritchie, is one of the most successful singers of all time, with album sales of more than 200 million.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSLQ98126420090327

Britney Spears And Madonna Onstage? Don’t Get Your Hopes Up …

Who doesn’t love the magic of a Madonna and Britney Spears duet? Right. No one. So you can only imagine how excited fans were about a rumor that Madge might show up at Brit’s big Nassau Coliseum show later this month.

The rumor was started by someone claiming to be Britney’s stylist. David Alexander spilled details of the supposed super secret duet to celebrity weekly In Touch. “She’ll be singing with Madonna in New York. It will be ‘Get Together’ and ‘Trouble.’ So, together the song is called ‘Lose Control,’” Alexander told the magazine, implying a mash-up of the singers’ hits. The alleged stylist added that Madge might also join Britney for one of her L.A. shows in April. “It’s supposed to be a surprise!”

Well, the only thing surprising here is that the rumor isn’t true. A post on Britney’s Web site debunked the whole thing: “Despite rumors otherwise, at the moment Britney has no plans to collaborate with anyone in the near future at any of her upcoming performances.”

The post also addressed the source of the rumor: “PS — David Alexander is not Britney’s stylist nor have we ever heard of him.”

OK, so it’s not true, but it didn’t seem that crazy. Madge did stop by Brit’s first Nassau Coliseum show on March 11. And let’s not forget last fall when Brit made a surprise appearance at one of Madonna’s shows. Despite the denial, we’re still not ready to rule out the thought of the Material Girl returning the favor once again at the big show later this month.

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2009/03/17/britney-spears-and-madonna-onstage-dont-get-your-hopes-up/

Madonna's nude photo auctioned for $37,500

A full-frontal, nude photo of a 20-year-old Madonna fetched $37,500 at auction Thursday, an apparent record auction price for a photograph of the superstar singer.

An unnamed European buyer bought the picture, which had been expected to sell for up to $15,000, according to Christie's auction house.

Madonna, then known as Madonna Louise Ciccone, was a dancer trying to make ends meet when she answered a newspaper ad seeking a nude model. She may have earned as little as $25 for the 1979 photo session.

Lee Friedlander's raw, explicit black-and-white image appeared in Playboy in 1985. Friedlander has said of the photo session that Madonna "seemed very confident, a street-wise girl. She told me she was putting a band together but half the kids that age are doing that. She was a good professional model."

The photograph auctioned Thursday was one of six from that shoot that appeared in Playboy; the other five pictures were sold together in 2003 for $7,170.

A Herb Ritts photo of Madonna's "True Blue" album cover, which sold for more than $15,000 in 2006, is the most expensive photograph of the singer to sell previously at auction, Christie's said.

Another photograph of Madonna, by Helmut Newton, sold Thursday for $18,750, beating a $15,000 estimate. In that shot, also sold to Playboy in the 1980s, Madonna sports lingerie, curly blond hair and a seductive expression. A man kneels beside her.

The Madonna photos were among 150 images, by some of the biggest names in photography, auctioned from the collection of Leon and Michaela Constantiner. They feature fashion and other celebrity icons.

The sale fetched more than $900,000 in all, including a top price of $242,500 for "Sie Kommen," Newton's images of nude models for the Italian and French versions of Vogue in the 1980s. - AP