Madonna has received a lot of criticism for adopting David from Africa, so she is now on a press tour to tell us more about the adoption. She stopped by The Today Show this morning and spoke about offering David's dad money to raise his son on his own, living in a racist world, and teaching David Kabbalah. The last one is no surprise since we already saw the cute little guy sporting his red string bracelet. Here's more:
Madonna claims she first offered money to the poor African farmer whose son she adopted so he could get the boy out of an orphanage and raise him - but he turned her down. "I offered that in court when I met him," the pop queen said in an interview with NBC's Meredith Vieira that airs today. "I couldn't really understand that decision. ... I believe he remarried and had moved to another village and was kind of getting on with his life. I think he truly felt in his heart of hearts ... that he would have a better life with me," Madonna said of Yohane Banda. "So, when he said no" to the money, Madonna said she took it as "my sign that ... it was my responsibility to look after him."
Madonna also says she intends to introduce the boy to the kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism that critics deride as a cult. "I believe in Jesus and I study kabbalah," she said. "So, I don't see why he can't, too."
"A lot of people have a problem with the fact that I've adopted an African child, a child who has a different color skin than I do," she said.
"I don't live in a ... in a white world," she said. "I live in the world. And my children are exposed to all cultures and all races and many belief systems."
More pics of Madonna in NYC so just read more
Zoppini
Betty Barclay
Aminaka Wilmont
OK, so she did offered him money to raise his son. That was something people were keep talking about.
1I'm glad she offered him money now maybe everyone will shut up about it.
2i hope she stops getting criticism now. it seems like she did the right thing.
3don't care
4Oh, you know how the media is with this sort of thing, Twink. It's so unbelievably silly how they blow it all totally out of proportion. And when they decide that this story has run its course (it did with many of us, already) they'll just go on to the next one...and the whole damn cycle will repeat itself.
5i truly believe that she has good intentions whe she adopted david banda.. more power to her family.
6People were criticizing her b/c David is black?
7that's so wrong.. @azucar
8how horrible, people were criticising her because she adopted outside her race? what year is this?
9there were comments about removing him from his country and culture, about the father not wanting the adoption or understanding, about why doesn't she just support David , the father and the whole damn village if she is so concerned, why doesn't she help all orphanages, why a child that still has a father vs a true orphan, why a cute child vs. an ugly child. why not give David back (for which the father said that he wanted the adoption to go thru and he was being "hunted" by rights activists wanting to use him to further their cause not his).
why why why.. I say lets just be happy that THIS child is no longer in an orphanage and will hopefully have a better life.. filled with love and education and comfort. And let it be.
10i starting to love madonna..
11She deserves the critisism she gets, she took a child away from his family, instead of helping him stay in his country and in his culture. There are many things she could have done to help this family and the extended community they come from. But instead as Sharon Osborne put it "Madonna needed another accesory and so she bought an Afrikan child." You may not agree with this statement but as an Afrikan woman I am appauled by the photo's of her walking thru airports carrying this child. Reminiscent of Ms. Jolie, which is exactly what Madonna wanted...the attention that this gets her. She is an attention wh*re and cannot stand being left out of the limelight, so every couple of years she makes these "bold" moves to ensure her name in the papers. Why else would a grown ass woman kiss two pop stars on stage as her daughter watches. She makes me sick, more so because she took a child out of his culture and is raising him as a Jew, while she claims she was going to make sure that the child is raised as close to his culture as possible. Folks, there is a damn good reason why people did not critisize Ms. Jolie or any other celebrity who has adopted a child.
12i think she's done great things. she donated all that money for the orphanage, adopted a child who will now have a chance to live to adulthood, have a chance for education and who will hopefully grow up to do great things for his home country. i'm glad to hear that she offered to sponsor david so he could live in africa if his father chose. but he didn't and now she gets to raise him.
she's great.
13mock24, i think madonna totally deserves love from her fans.
Ima I second that.
_____________________________
"You're drowning in a sea of anarchy,
14With your heart above your patches and faith in
democracy."
This whole thing with her adopting David has really made me change my opinion of her. I really like her now like I used to. I think she's a wonderful person.
15~Trust Fate*Have Hope*Love Always~
The issue was NEVER a black and white issue and I am surprised she has said this as I always assumed Madonna was an intelligent woman.
The issue as well she knows it is the fact she used her star power to by-pass the rules to adopt this baby.
16I don't believe or trust her.
The orphanges are to further the teachings of Kaballah in Africa. Somewhere in the Kaballah handbook, it's probably written that leading other people to the ... practice, cult, or whatever you want to call it.... brings blessings. She's trying to buy herself a ticket to Kaballah heaven on the backs of poor African children. It's no different than what the Christian missionaries have done for generations.
If she just wanted to help poor kids, she could build orphanages that didn't require Kaballah classes. Get them food and medicine because it's the right thing to do, not to bait them into her practice.
17On another note, she needs to get her roots done
18Ginger, you seriously think Christian missionaries help other people just to buy their way into heaven?
19She can't just force Kabbalah on the child like that! Its not being fair to him. The talk show circuit seems to be a very effective way to air your views and your side of the story.
20____________________________________
Don't tick me off. Or you'll get it.
guess there's no other way to show the world you've reached menopause than this
21this story is going way over board now! she should stop talking about it and get on with it! Everytime she opens her mouth about the adoption she causes more discussions!!
22saying this im glad she adopted because whatever anyone says this child will have a much better life than if he stayed in malawi.
Thank you Ginger!!!
23Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.