The Tragic Details Of Madonna's Guy Ritchie Split Are Darker Than You Thought

Madonna's divorce from Guy Ritchie in 2008 after eight years of marriage and their bitter custody battle over their son, Rocco Ritchie, are just two of the music legend's many tragic moments in life. However, unbeknownst to the public, their feud over Rocco nearly led to an even more devastating tragedy. In December 2015, years after the exes finalized their divorce and agreed to share custody of their child, a public legal squabble erupted when Rocco, then 15, went to live with his father in the U.K. instead of returning to his mother's home in New York City. The "Like a Prayer" hitmaker fought hard for nine months to regain custody of her son, but the dispute ended in September 2016 with Rocco being allowed to remain in London with his dad. 

Speaking out about the custody case on the "On Purpose" podcast nine years later, Madonna described it as "probably one of the most painful moments in my life where I honestly couldn't see the forest [for] the trees," admitting that it led to some very dark thoughts. While she was able to accept the disintegration of her second marriage and move on, losing custody of Rocco was so agonizing that she considered harming herself and taking her own life. "A lot of people's marriages don't work out. ... Someone taking, trying to take my child away from me was like, um, they might as well just kill me," Madonna told host Jay Shetty in September 2025. She added that it was even more challenging because it happened during her "Rebel Heart" tour. "I really thought ... it was the end of the world. I couldn't take it."

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Madonna's son Rocco Ritchie once shared some insight into what she's like as a mom, saying on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2012, "She's a good mother ... She's very strict but in a good way." While he spoke about it positively at the time, this strictness reportedly eventually drove Rocco to quit traveling with his mother and instead stay with his father, Guy Ritchie, in London. However, Rocco wasn't the only one; his older sister, Lourdes Leon, also struck out on her own as soon as she could due to Madonna's parenting tactics, which had come into question in the past. "My mom is such a control freak, and she has controlled me my whole life," Lourdes told Interview magazine in 2021.

Madonna has admitted that she's not the fun and laidback type of parent, telling People in 2017, "I'm bad-cop, I'm the one that says no. I accept that role. I'm not the popular parent." However, the entertainer may have mellowed out eventually, as she appears to have a much closer relationship with both Rocco and Leon now that they're adults. "Now, I'm happy to say I'm really good friends with my son," she said during her aforementioned appearance on the "On Purpose" podcast. 

Aside from bringing them to high-profile events, Madonna has given lavish lives to her six children (four of whom are adopted), and she proudly supports their projects. She shared Leon's music on social media, promoting her debut single as a solo artist in 2022, and attended Rocco's art exhibitions in Miami and Paris in 2024. Rocco and Leon also joined their mom in Italy in August 2025 when she celebrated her 67th birthday.