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It's Official: Madonna, Guy Calling It Quits

Updates: No Pre-Nup? / Madonna and A-Rod 'Definitely Romantic'

PopEater / Wire Services
posted: 45 DAYS 10 HOURS AGO
comments: 1030
filed under: In Love, Movie News, Music News, Splitsville
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LONDON (Oct. 15) - After countless denials of domestic trouble, Madonna and Guy Ritchie announced Wednesday they are divorcing after nearly eight years of marriage. The couple's announcement brings to an end a showbiz union that spanned the Atlantic and dominated the gossip columns.
Madonna - "Madge" to the British press - and her filmmaker husband were always greater tabloid fodder in England, where they lived. The pop star seemed to take to English life, spending much of her time at the couple's 1,200-acre country estate in Wiltshire, and to some ears, adopting a slight British accent.

Madonna and Her Men

    Madonna and Guy Ritchie, seen just last month at a film premiere, have announced they are breaking up after nearly eight years of marriage. The couple, who have two children, will try to reach a financial settlement quietly, their lawyer said.

    Dave Hogan, Getty Images

    This is, of course, just the latest chapter in the singer's always-interesting love life. See who else the "Material Girl" has dated, or married, throughout the years.

    Kevin Mazur, WireImage

    Who? Jean-Michel Basquiat
    Relationship to Madonna: The world-renowned artist, who died of heroin overdose, enjoyed an affair with the then-unknown Madonna in 1983.

    Lizzy Himmel, Brooklyn Museum / AP

    Who? John Jellybean Benitez
    Relationship to Madonna: The producer met Madonna when she was seeing Basquiat, and worked on her first album while dating the would-be star.

    William D. Bird, Getty Images

    Who? Sean Penn
    Relationship to Madonna: The two were married in the mid-'80s.

    Neal Preston, Corbis

    Who? John F. Kennedy, Jr.
    Relationship to Madonna: During her marriage to Penn, she allegedly almost slept with the Kennedy son.

    Stephan Savoia, AP

    Who? Sandra Bernhard
    Relationship to Madonna: The former friends made David Letterman audiences believe they were together, before admitting it was a publicity stunt years later.

    Evan Agostini, Getty Images

    Who? Warren Beatty
    Relationship to Madonna: The 'Dick Tracy' co-stars dated during filming of the comic book movie.

    Brenda Chase, Getty Images

    Who? Tony Ward
    Relationship to Madonna: She and the model were an item in 1990.

    Ron Galella, WireImage.com

    Who? Lenny Kravitz
    Relationship to Madonna: Kravitz appeared in Madonna's 'Justify My Love' video and they were rumored to be a couple at the time.

    Kevork Djansezian, AP


But in recent years, reports began to accumulate that they were on the rocks. Over the summer, Madonna was linked - unfairly, she said - to the breakup of New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez and his ex-wife Cynthia.
A source close to the singer told Usmagazine.com on Wednesday that Madonna and Ritchie "haven't been together for over a year" and that "they have been privately separated."
Also, the source claimed Madonna and Rodriguez, or A-Rod, have been "definitely romantic" during that time.
The couple issued a brief statement by their representatives Wednesday, asking for respect from the press for their family's sake.
A financial settlement has not been agreed by the wealthy couple, who also must decide child custody issues.
All Madonna Radio Station 66 Videos
Madonna and Ritchie, director of "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," married in December 2000 at Skibo Castle, in the Scottish Highlands. The couple have two children: Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 3, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006. Madonna also has a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from her relationship with personal trainer Carlos Leon.
If indeed the pair did not sign a pre-nuptial agreement, as is reported by British newspaper the Daily Mail, the divorce has the potential to be one of the costliest in celebrity history.
The couple are reportedly worth some $525 million, the bulk of that belonging to Madonna. Ritchie has an estimated $35 million fortune. They own homes in London, Los Angeles and New York, and the retreat in Wiltshire.
"Who would have thunk it?" Madonna told Vogue magazine in an interview published in August 2005. "The last thing I thought I would do is marry some laddish, shooting, pubgoing nature lover and the last thing he thought he was going to do was marry some cheeky girl from the Midwest who doesn't take no for an answer!"

Celebrity Splitsville

    Ronnie Wood and Jo Wood
    Divorcing | 23 Years
    The Rolling Stone is facing a very costly divorce with his wife Jo, due to an ongoing affair with 20-year-old Ekaterina Ivanova.

    Evan Agostini/Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

    Natalie Portman and Devendra Banhart
    Split
    The beautiful starlet and her furry musician are no longer. At least they'll always have Bollywood.

    Dana Kopel/AFP/Getty Images

    Sarah McLachlan and Ashwin Sood
    Split / 11 Years, 2 Kids
    The Canadian singer says she and her drummer-husband are going through a "pretty gross" separation.

    Getty Images

    Nicollette Sheridan and Michael Bolton
    Ended Engagment
    The split, which as the second for the couple who also dated in the early '90s, was amicable.

    Kevin Winter, Getty Images

    Chris Kattan and Sunshine Tutt
    Separating | Married for 8 Weeks
    The 'SNL' alum and model filed separation papers on Aug. 21.

    Alexandra Wyman, Wire Image

    Donnie Wahlberg and Kim Fey
    Divorcing | 9 Years, 2 Kids
    The couple have been separated since January of this year, but Fey filed for divorce on Aug. 13.

    Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images

    Adrien Grenier and Isabel Lucas (right) couldn't withstand the relationship wrecking ball that is Shia LaBeouf, as 'Entourage' star Grenier reportedly "didn't appreciate" Lucas riding in the car with Sir Beefalot during his DUI crash.

    LEFT: Nancy Kaszerman, Zuma Press RIGHT: Jeff Gentner, Getty Images

    George Lazenby and Pam Shriver
    Divorcing | 6 Years, 3 Kids
    The doubles tennis legend is ending her marriage to the actor, who will forever be remembered for his one-time stint as James Bond in "Her Majesty's Secret Service."

    Michael Tran, FilmMagic.com

    Emily and Charlie Robison
    Divorced
    The Dixie Chicks guitarist and her husband secretly filed for divorced in January, but the split was just made public.

    Getty Images

    Morgan Freeman and Myrna Colley-Lee
    Divorcing
    News of the 'Dark Knight' star's split came just days after he was involved in a serious car accident.

    Kathy Willens, AP

In the documentary "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret," Madonna gets behind the bar at a London tavern and offers to get a beer for Ritchie. He grins at her and says, "Please, Mrs. Ritchie, you get in there and pull me a pint."
Madonna was to perform concerts Wednesday and Thursday in Boston as her "Sticky and Sweet" tour continued. Ritchie's latest movie, "RocknRolla," recently opened to mixed reviews.
In London, Ritchie's mother, Lady Amber Leighton, told reporters that the family wouldn't be making any statement to the media.
Lawyers said the couple would likely try to come to an agreement before heading to court.
"The judgment of the court would be to try and assess what they came in with and divide what they built up fairly equally," said David Allison, a lawyer with Family Law in Partnership, a London firm.
The needs of the couple's children will also be factored by the court, as they were in Britain's most recent high-profile celebrity divorce, the battle between former Beatle Paul McCartney and model Heather Mills. In that case, McCartney and Mills fought over money and custody of their young daughter.
Mills received 24.3 million pounds in the divorce after four years of marriage.
"The needs of children figure quite highly, and that was one of the reasons Heather Mills got a gigantic amount of money, despite the fact that the bulk of Sir Paul's money was made before the marriage," Allison said.
The Sun newspaper splashed the split across its front page Wednesday, under the headline: "We're Divorcing."
Madonna, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, has found lesser success as a screen star, starring in the musical "Evita" and the comedy "Desperately Seeking Susan." Her most notable collaboration with Ritchie was the panned 2002 film "Swept Away."
She married Sean Penn in 1985, but they divorced four years later.
2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved. // Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. // Copyright 2008, Reuters
2008-10-14 21:23:09
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Pwhite084

11:00 AMNov 12 2008

Who cares! Madonna is highly over rated!

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Asuntatuya

04:55 PMNov 04 2008

When the "Rapture is over" A-Rod will die of mental corrosion. Everyone does that isn't new. what he will understand is this, that Latina that you dumped, will haunt you the rest of your life, it isn't over. your rapture will fade, and you will hate what you have done. No woman can make your mind yours, only you can do that. Woman add to your rapture, when the decide its over, you will suffer again and again till your "Karma" is worked out. Madonna, I remember was a vERY anger young woman, who had "Issues" with her father. they didn't speak for a very long time. Looking for a man, who "Shouldn't" be like your father is a major issue for Madonna. So, you deal with her, you deal with her past. She may be speaking to her father now, but the damage is done. No, she's not a lesbian, she hates men and woman equally. so, what has A-rod done? His Karma will teach him.

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Shace58

01:01 AMNov 01 2008

breakup hurts the children. Mr.Richie will do better without Madonna for a while.She should 've worked on her marriage for her family .But another one bites the dusttttttttttt

AVG RATING:
(1)

Delmarguy69

04:18 PMOct 28 2008

maybe out Queen will return to her home now where she belongs,long live the queen of pop

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Harlo437

08:58 AMOct 25 2008

How could anyone BED that SKANK......? ? ?

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SuzyScorpion

04:25 AMOct 24 2008

This is kind of an addendum to my first post. The first time I saw Madonna was in 1995, at Webster Hall in NYC. I won tickets from a local radio station, and it was a Pajama Party, held by MTV, and we were live on TV at the time also. It wasn't a concert, but Madonna laid in a bed and read us a bedtime story. This was to celebrate her "Bedtime Stories" album. Anyway, when I saw Madonna last week in concert (Boston), and I saw her "in the flesh" singing and dancing, I was so overwhelmed I actually started to cry! I know it sounds weird, but I just couldn't help it.. Like I said, I was so overwhelmed, and I had PMS lol...

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(1)

Searanger1

05:23 PMOct 23 2008

Madonna's always been a pig. I feel sorry for the children.

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Debbie299

01:35 PMOct 22 2008

Madonna is a thoughtless, uncaring PIG with the morals of an alleycat!!! My hat's off to Guy for puttin' up with this self serving twit. I agree with another poster that said that Guy should have custody of their children because Madonna's all about Madonna and NOONE ELSE!!! Watch out ARod!!! She'll suck the life outa you to!!!

AVG RATING:
(2)

Debbie299

01:34 PMOct 22 2008

Madonna is a thoughtless, uncaring PIG with the morals of an alleycat!!! My hat's off to Guy for puttin' up with this self serving twit. I agree with another poster that said that Guy should have custody of their children because Madonna's all about Madonna and NOONE ELSE!!! Watch out ARod!!! She'll suck the life outa you to!!!

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FelixMeow26

01:02 AMOct 21 2008

Guy was a boring man..all of his movies are the same........ always tried to kiss ass in front of the camera....They tried to stay together as long as they could but sometimes things just aren't meant to be........