IT’S a problem millions of parents face when their teenage children become obsessed with mobile phones.
And global pop icons are not immune — just ask pop megastar Madonna.
In a deeply personal new interview, the superstar — who is a mum of six including her four youngest adopted from Africa — has revealed giving her children a phone “ended” her relationship with them.
And so keen is the US singer to avoid the same happening with 13-year-old son David, she is banning him from having a mobile.
Of the decision, she said: “I’m going to stick that one out for as long as possible, because I made a mistake when I gave my older children phones when they were 13.
“It ended my relationship with them, really. Not completely, but it became a very, very big part of their lives.
“They became too inundated with imagery and started to compare themselves to other people, and that’s really bad for self-growth.”
The global icon has given the revealing interview for the June issue of Vogue, which we exclusively preview today, inset in main pic, to promote her new single Medellin.
Madge also tells how she is being “punished” for turning 60 as she continues to fight ageism, and she insists she is not enemies with pop rival Lady Gaga.
Despite not being her biological son, Madonna says David has more of her DNA than her other children.
Madonna and ex-husband Guy Ritchie adopted Malawian son David in 2006 and his promising football career saw the pop icon move to Lisbon where he is currently on the books of Benfica’s academy.
Three years later, she headed back to the African country to adopt daughter Mercy, now 12, before adding twins Esther and Stella, now six, to her brood in 2017.
She tells the magazine: “What David has more than anything is focus and determination. I’m pretty sure he got it from me. He’s the one I have the most in common with.
“I feel like he gets me — he has more of my DNA than any of my children so far.”
Madonna also reveals her oldest daughter, 22-year-old Lourdes — who she had with Cuban dancer Carlos Leon — is pursuing a showbiz career, but is concerned about nepotism allegations.
Using her nickname Lola, Madonna says: “[Lola] is insanely talented.
“I’m green with envy because she’s incredible at everything she does — she’s an incredible dancer, she’s a great actress, she plays the piano beautifully, she’s way better than me in the talent department.
“But she doesn’t have the same drive.”
Lourdes is currently based in the US and last September the aspiring model made her catwalk debut at New York Fashion Week.
Madge believes Lourdes has been negatively affected by criticism on social media.
She explains: “I feel social media plagues her and makes her feel like, ‘People are going to give me things because I’m her daughter.’
“I try to give her examples of other children of celebrities like Zoe Kravitz (musician Lenny Kravitz’s daughter), for instance, who have to work through that ‘Oh yeah, you’re the daughter of . . . ’ – then eventually you are taken seriously for what you do.
“You just have to keep going. But does she have the same drive that I have? No. But she also has a mother, and I didn’t. She grew up with money, and I didn’t. So everything is going to be different. But what can I do? I can’t fixate on it. I just have to do my best.”
Son Rocco, 18, is studying art in London and lives with his father Guy after the film-maker won a nine-month custody battle in 2016 — eight years after he and Madonna split.
In the interview, Madonna also discusses the ageism that has hampered her in her recent pop career.
She says: “People have always been trying to silence me for one reason or another, whether it’s that I’m not pretty enough, I don’t sing well enough, I’m not talented enough, I’m not married enough, and now it’s that I’m not young enough. Now I’m fighting ageism, now I’m being punished for turning 60.”
Given the length of her career, the Queen of Pop has no contemporaries. She explains: “There are no living role models for me. Because nobody does what I do. That’s kind of scary.
“I can look back at women who I think were great and amazing — freedom fighters, like Simone de Beauvoir or Angela Davis — but they didn’t have kids.
“Being a single parent of six children, I continue to be creative and be an artist and be politically active, to have a voice, to do all the things that I do. So there isn’t anybody in my position.”
Madonna also addressed rumours of a feud with Lady Gaga. The pair posted a picture together on social media after Gaga’s Oscar win for A Star Is Born in February.
Hints in bold snaps
STRIKING black-and-white images with the Vogue interview point to Madonna’s liking for the analogue world.
Posing in a 1950s-themed study, she clutches a notepad and fountain pen beside a typewriter. Alongside her admission that mobile phones have harmed her relationships with her kids, the typewriter is the only bit of “modern” technology in the room.
Books include a Field Guide To The Birds Of Britain And Europe and an anthology of American poetry. Art adds an abstract feel – one by avant-garde painter Francis Picabia.
A pricey antique Cartier Tank watch keeps a high-fashion presence, while carved cat bookends add fun.
The cover image, in which Madonna reclines fully clothed in a murky roll-top bath with a cocktail to hand, evokes her trademark decadence.
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But Madonna said: “People got very excited about that we were enemies, when we never were enemies.”
Yesterday Madge announced the release of her new ballad I Rise, the second of five tracks before album Madame X comes out on June 14.
She said: “This year is the 50th anniversary of Pride and I hope this song encourages all individuals to be who they are, to speak their minds and to love themselves.”
- See the full feature in the June issue of British Vogue, available on digital download and on newsstands Friday, May 10. See vogue.co.uk.
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