TMZ: Rocco Ritchie thinks Madonna treated him more like a trophy than a son
As we heard last week and this week, 15-year-old Rocco Ritchie is on the outs with his mom, Madonna. Madonna and Guy Ritchie have had joint custody of Rocco since their divorce, and for what it’s worth, before a few months ago, Rocco seemed to be totally fine with both of his parents. But something about teenage angst mixed with Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour made Rocco want to “run away.” When Madonna’s tour came to London in early December, Rocco left his mom and went to his dad’s home, and Rocco has refused to leave his dad’s place ever since. Madonna tried to drag her son and her ex-husband into court before Christmas to settle this dispute, only to have the whole thing blow up into an even bigger, more public mess.
As I’ve been saying, part of the problem is that Madonna and Guy Ritchie still sort of hate each other. I actually think Guy is pretty much over it – he’s moved on with a fertile, young wife who had three babies back-to-back, and Guy never makes any public swipes at Madonna because… well, I don’t think he cares, and he doesn’t need to anyway. But Madonna still has feelings, and those feelings resemble anger and rage. Sources close to Madonna told TMZ that in Madonna’s mind, Guy has been working to drive a wedge between Madge and her son for years. Sources say that because Madonna is the hyper-controlling disciplinarian, Guy always gets to be the easy-going good-guy dad, and Guy used his anger at Madonna to try to convince Rocco to disobey Madonna. Or something. But after TMZ ran that story, other sources came forward and said NOPE, Rocco was just sick of his mom and Guy had little to do with it.
Madonna’s son didn’t have to be sold by Guy Ritchie when the 15-year-old made the decision to stay in London … we’re told Rocco was fed up with the singer, her lifestyle and her parenting skills. Sources who were on Madonna’s tour tell us, Rocco was “miserable” being carted around the world by his mom. As one source put it, “There were horrible, full-blown fights with screaming and crying.”
We’re told during the Stockholm leg of the tour, Rocco was a no-show when the charter plane was ready to take off … he had made an escape run, but it appears he eventually came back.
Things deteriorated during the London shows in December. Rocco told his dad he couldn’t handle it anymore … he couldn’t take the traveling and the fights. Our sources say Rocco told Guy he felt like Madonna treated him more like a trophy than a son. Rocco now thinks his mom is jealous of his dad’s “stable life” and his desire to live with his dad.
Rocco has been ordered to return to NYC for a court hearing. It will be interesting to hear if his bad feelings dissipate and how much the judge considers his living preference.
Here’s the thing: I can totally see how this could really be Rocco’s perspective. After a life spent with Madonna as your mother, growing up with her self-perpetuating drama machine, her backup dancer lovers, her tours, her craziness, well… a regular, stable family life with his dad and stay-at-home stepmom and young half-siblings must seem like an exotic paradise. My body language analysis says that Rocco is very comfortable with his stepmother, Jacqui, and he just seems more relaxed in general around his dad. I bet his life is a lot less dramatic and a lot more stable with his dad too. And yes, I do think all of that pisses off Madonna. The custodial hearing is going to be a mess.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmbW5jZ311e9OmsZiqn5iwsKvRoqucoJmarLW0yKeirJedlrGwus2alq2qlZbBprC%2BoaCml52kv6ary6KinpeRlMGzu8%2BhsJismJa7oK2%2BrKanZw%3D%3D