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Madonna Opens To Oprah

Madonna Opens To Oprah

Just hours from now, The Oprah Show will air Madonna’s real-life confessions regarding the adoption of a 13-month-old boy,David Banda of Malawi. Here’s a couple of excerpts:

  • On how she was drawn to David: “I’m financing a documentary about orphans in Malawi, so I was allowed to view footage and photographs of a lot of the children. An 8-year-old girl who is living with HIV was holding this child. I became transfixed by him. … But I didn’t yet know I was going to adopt him. I was just drawn to him.”
  • On the reaction of her other two children, Lourdes and Rocco: “They just embraced him, and that’s the amazing thing about children. They don’t ask questions. They’ve never once said, ‘What is he doing here’, or mentioned the difference in his skin color, or questioned his presence in our life. That is an amazing lesson that children do teach us.”
  • On David’s father being manipulated by the media: “I do not believe that is true. I sat in that room, I looked into that man’s eyes,” Madonna says. “I believe that the press is manipulating this information out of him. I believe at this point in time, he’s been terrorized by the media. They have asked him things, repeatedly, and they have put words in his mouth. They have spun a story that is completely false.”
  • On begging others to adopt from Africa: “I beg all of those people to go to Africa and see what I saw and walk through those villages. … To see 8-year-olds in charge of households. To see mothers dying, with Kaposi sarcoma lesions all over their bodies. To see open sewages everywhere. To see what I saw. It is a state of emergency. As far as I’m concerned, the adoption laws have to be changed to suit that state of emergency. I think if everybody went there, they’d want to bring one of those children home with them and give them a better life.”
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46 Comments

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She does nothing for anyone if she is not getting something for it!!! In this case all the eyes are on her again….She is a big ***** who slept her way to the top and poor guy he is a dumb ass if I ever saw one….money can buy you anything….

While I agree with Sharon’s and Carrie-Ann’s thoughts on the subject I would have to say that dj (comment #3) nailed it.

On the surface it’s hard to be critical of Madonna for reasons many have already outlined (giving a child a good home etc etc etc) but I can’t uncritically support her, Angelina, Meg Ryan or any of the other celebs who have adopted internationally ~ the unnervingly trendy aspect of international adoption notwithstanding.

The entire transaction (and I say transaction since the child was essentially purchased) smacks of elitism and neo-colonial exploitation and appropriation and for that reason I cannot wholeheartedly embrace it like all the Oprah disciples will.

She’ll stick the kid with a nanny and once the “adopt a baby from
Africa” trend dies out, she’ll move on to the next celeb cause du
jour. These celebrities do more harm than good. Sure, they shed
light, but the people exposed to all this light become cynical very
quickly because the motive for most celebrities in doing things like
this is to get attention for themselves–it’s so transparent.
Madonna’s whole career is based on publicity stunts, so when she
all of the sudden out of nowhere decides to be a humanitarian it
rings false. Her old antics don’t work, and she sees all the
attention Angelina is getting, so now we have Mother Madonna
adopting the poor African baby. I’m all for helping others but I do
think one’s motives for doing so should be pure and not a means
to promote yourself, which by going on Oprah she is clearly doing.
Madonna must be reveling in all the attention she is getting. I
doubt few people will even focus on the poverty problem because
the lionshare of the attention will be on Madonna, which is exactly
what she wanted all along.

Deathblow @ 10/25/2006 at 3:14 pm

Can’t believe that this is happening in front of the whole world and not one person with the power is doing anything about it.

I mean we all see the wrong here don’t we? Any person with any decent morals could see it. I mean how can she not see it her self.

Poor man. Though I’m glad that his child is away from all the poverity, regardless no one should be taken away from there family.

Soooooo, did O’ ask Madge anything about BAMZS??

#32
She asked if Brad and Angelina had given her the idea to adopt and she said she has not spoken to them and has never even met Angelina. I think that was it.

#32
She asked if Brad and Angelina had given her the idea to adopt and she said she has not spoken to them and has never even met Angelina. I think that was it.

33 | Patti
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Thanks Patti! That’s great - She just blew the rags that wrote they were all in consultation and that B&A were advising Madonna of this and that - out of the water! LOLOL

She didn’t say it snotty did she?

…and did Oprah ask it snotty? Like did Brad & Ange get you into this mess? LOL

I watched her on Pprah. Her answers sound scripted.

34 | CLINIQUA
No she didn’t say it snotty, just in her faux British accent, mostly all her words,lol. Keep slipping into her real voice once in awhile. She did comfirm she had dinner with Brad after Angelina adopted her daughter. But did say she has never met Angelina, and Brad and Guy are friends.

34 | CLINIQUA
No she didn’t say it snotty, just in her faux British accent, mostly all her words,lol. Keep slipping into her real voice once in awhile. She did comfirm she had dinner with Brad after Angelina adopted her daughter. But did say she has never met Angelina, and Brad and Guy are friends.

36 | sprite
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Thanks sprite - I’d like to read a transcript (get her exact words) or something but O never releases those.

No, not snotty or anything.

37 | CLINIQUA
Hopefully someone will have the transcript soon. She was on for 30 minutes, it was interesting. I’m not really a fan of hers but did want to hear what she had to say.

who cares @ 10/25/2006 at 4:57 pm

I LOVED at the end when O said that every mother out there would agree with her decision to adopt and welcome a child who needed an opportunity into their home and parent and love them… as a REAL mom I had to laugh– as if MAddona and Guy are REALLY going to parent this child- I don’t think so- that will be left up to round-the-clock nannies/caregivers~! At least little David has the opportunity to live the rich life now– Good luck to him…

I really do think people are being unfair to Madonna. I’ve never been a big fan of her, but I do admit she seems like a good mom. She does a good job of protecting her kids and keeping them out of the media. You almost never see pictures of Rocco, and only a few of Lourdes turn up. In fact, I believe Lourdes was almost 2 years old before anyone ever saw a picture of her. That had to be hard to accomplish and I commend Madonna on that.
Yes, I suppose she has nannies, but I know a lot of parents who have their kids in daycare. At least Madonna’s kids get one on one care. That’s more than most two income families can provide.
She and her family have been considering adioption for the last 2 years so it doesn’t sound like this was a spur of the moment decision. It sounds well thought out and planned for.
I have my suspicions about the father of this boy. First he tells Madonna that he’s happy that she will be adopting David and giving him a better life. Then, he tells the media that he’s happy Madonna is adopting David and giving him a good life. Now, all of a sudden, he’s upset and wants the kid back? Why did he suddenly change his opinion for no good reason? Did he finally figure out that he can get money from the Ritchies? I’d like to think that he just didn’t understand what adoption meant or that the media had confused him. But, I’m still wary.

#32 CLINIQUA good question. I was thinking the same thing. I didn’t see the show, but I knew that Oprah would bring up Brad and Angie. She is so predictable. She should adopt a whole village..

I’d like to ask a question to the people who criticize this adoption. How much money do YOU give to charities?
And don’t give me the ff-ing answer that you don’t have enough money. EVERYONE who has teh luxury of browsing JustJared has enough money. $1 can go alot in many nations.
It’s ridiculous that people are focusing on what Madonna didn’t do rather than what she did, which was adopt a child that needed help. She’s not Mother Teresa. She just wanted to adopt a kid and do a good deed at the same time.

Hi to you all, I am from Germany, and i was just reading all your comments. In my opinion, one lady already gave the right answer - you all with your bad comments about Madonnas adoption should better listen, stop writing those bad things about her and better feel a shame.

She safed that little boy, all the same who she is and how old she is. If she gives this little boy all the love he needs - and I am sure she will - then everyting is said. No one should complain about saving a life from death or poor life under terrible circumstances - like in Malavi. No one of us - not ins the States, nor in Germany would want to live in Africa, where this little boy David was living. And I think the media is only manipulating everyone, especially now stories about Madonna. They were attacing her all the time during her stage tour. It is so easy to critizise people, especially celebs. But: What would you do - if you look into eyes like this little boys eyes and if the people around him are telling you that no one of his family was taking care for him since he was two weeks old (including his father). I really admire people who help kids having a better life. I do have a little baby boy myself. And I feel hurt if I see other little kids crying or living under misserable circumstances.

Madonna safed Davids life, and no one should blame her for that!

I know there are kids in this world who have no mom and no dad, who might be better for adoption. But if you lose your heart, you can not change it. Same thing would be if Iwould get told to love another person than my boyfriend, my boys father. No one can change my feelings. It is destiny! very simple

I wish her and her family all the best - and this little cute baby boy - may every single angle in this world protect him for being sent back to Malavi!

i meant - angel - sorry … lol

Lola: Those of us who have adopted a child internationally did not purchase our children. We paid adoption fees that helped to cover the costs of the enormous amount of paperwork involved in this process. Or do you expect the people who process the adoption paperwork to do their jobs for free? Your comments about “purchasing a child” shows a complete lack of understanding of the amount of paperwork (and therefore people who must process the paperwork) that goes into an international adoption.
How incredibly sad, and cynical, to equate trying to save a child’s life with buying a child. What do you propose we do leave those children in the orphanages to die?

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