There’s so much drama going on with Madonna’s charity in Malawi I don’t know where to start. Basically a lot of money was embezzled from the charity either with or without Madonna’s knowledge/nod and wink, and Madonna backed down on plans to fund a large multi-million school there. The school was thought to be Madonna’s way of placating the government after she adopted two children from the country without abiding by their long standing foreign adoption laws. So Madonna just spread some money around (a lot less) to other schools instead. Last week she went on a tour of Malawi in order to tout the charity work she eventually did, which was much different than what she promised.
Ahead of her trip, Madonna sent an embarrassingly personal, handwritten letter to the new President of Malawai, Joyce Banda, requesting a meeting. Madonna addressed the President by her first name and congratulated her on her new job as if it was a secretarial position. Madonna’s letter included misspelled words and platitudes like “Wish you the very best!” and “Best of luck to you!” It was way too informal and is said to have offended Banda, who did not meet with Madonna. The nation’s education minister made it clear that Madonna had slighted them, telling BBC “She promised an academy and we agreed on standards but she just changed her mind on the project without consulting us.”
Well it got worse for Madonna from there. When she was set to leave the country she was made to wait in line at the airport and get frisked with the rest of the peasants instead of breezing through security like she expected. Apparently the orders came on high for Madonna to receive the full tourist treatment, and President Banda pretty much confirmed it in a statement referencing “blackmail.” She also made it sound like Madonna demanded VIP treatment. This is kind of priceless, and of course Madonna has fired back already:
The pop star has come under fire by government bigwigs for purportedly pushing for VIP treatment during her recent visit to the country amid escalating tensions between the singer and local officials after she pulled back on plans to build a multimillion academy for girls.
The situation—which officials alluded to as “blackmail”—came to a head after Madonna and her entourage were reportedly denied expedited traveling privileges at the airport and were required to queue up alongside other passengers and frisked, per published reports.
“Granted, Madonna is a famed international musician,” Malawi President Joyce Banda’s office said in a statement. “But that does not impose an injunction of obligation on any government under whose territory Madonna finds herself, including Malawi, to give her state treatment. Such treatment, even if she deserved it, is discretionary not obligatory.”
The statement added: “Kindness, as far as its ordinary meaning is concerned, is free and anonymous. If it can’t be free and silent, it is not kindness; it is something else. Blackmail is the closest it becomes.”
An unnamed aviation official was quoted as saying that the airport had received “a directive” that Madonna and her entourage—which included her four children, Lourdes, Rocco, David and Mercy—were asked to pass through “the ordinary passenger terminal on their way to their jet.”
The 54-year-old pop star, however, refutes allegations that she made VIP demands.
“I did not ever ask or demand special treatment at the airport or elsewhere during my visit,” she said in a statement. “I will not be distracted or discouraged by other people’s political agendas. I made a promise to the children of Malawi and I am keeping that promise.”
The singer had initially pledged to build a multimillion-dollar school for girls in the southeast African nation, but government officials later accused her of backpedaling on that promise, choosing instead to merely build what they described as “classrooms at existing schools.”
A representative from Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi, subsequently defended the pop star, saying that the foundation had reportedly pumped $400,000 into building 10 school blocks, providing a productive learning environment to 4,000 children.
Ok, so Madonna’s charity did eventually donate some money to Malawai’s schools, but even her charity rep admits it was $400,000, not the $15 million she promised. Plus, she asked people to donate to her charity, remember that? So a bunch of manager types got rich off Madonna’s charity, Malawi received less than 3% of the amount that they were promised, and they probably didn’t get a fraction of the amount that came from the public. Madonna said on CNN in 2009 that she would donate $250,000 to Raising Malawi, so it’s not like all those missing millions came from her. Malawian officials are pissed, and they’re letting Madonna know about it.
Yesterday Radar Online reported that Madonna had fired the Kabbalah cult from managing her charity. Is this damage control or is she finally breaking away from Kabbalah?
Joyce Banda meeting Queen Elizabeth II last June.
Madonna is shown performing in NY in November. That’s her boyfriend with her, Brahim Zaibat. He’s 25, tops. Credit: Pacific Coast News. Joyce Banda and Queen Elizabeth II photos from WENN.com
“Kindness, as far as its ordinary meaning is concerned, is free and anonymous. If it can’t be free and silent, it is not kindness; it is something else. Blackmail is the closest it becomes.”
WOW!
Someone should say the same thing Jolie…
Same can be said of Bullock
@ Lama. I don’t quite understand your statement. Jolie does not strike me as a
Madonna type celebrity. Her and Pitt’s
foundation do not ask for money, that is all them. Madonna ego knows no bounds and she only did this to fast track the adoption of her children. Some people are not charitable and that is alright, to each its own, but don’t lie about it. When there is an dependence on it and just a lack of follow through, people are going to be pissed.
Are you suggesting that Jolie and Madonna are similar in their charity work? Because really there is no comparison
There is absolutely no comparison between the two. Jolie has been in the trenches for the past decade raising awareness of all her causes. She devotes the time and HER OWN money to what she believes in. She didn’t forcibly buy a baby and then placate her kid’s homeland by throwing money it’s face.
I disagree as well. I am not a Jolie Pitt fan, and occasionally their (and other celebs’) charity announcements have a little “let’s get some good PR” ring to them, but I don’t doubt that there’s sincerity and hard work behind it. Jolie, Bullock, and some other celebs are very personally involved in their charity work, and give money and time not to get something in return, but because they want to help.
Madonna threw money at a problem (int’l adoption laws) to get what she wanted, and then didn’t even follow through on her promises. It looks like it was all for her own ego and image – if she really wanted to help, she’d make it happen. I don’t think there’s any comparison.
I don’t even KNOW most of the things that Angelina Jolie does. I’m not a huge fan, but it seems to me that when her charity giving and kindness is reported on, it’s usually the charity that reports it, not her, and when it IS her, it’s usually to bring attention to an issue. With Madonna, it is a whole other story.
This has nothing to do with Angelina. Angelina has already built schools, with her OWN money. The next school she intends to build will be funded from her jewelry sales.
So, find some other way to try and slight her.
Jolie, I don’t agree. Pitt, yes I do agree regarding his “rebuilding New Orleans” fiasco. The “neighborhoods” that were built had strange, expensive designers come in and build homes which don’t appeal to the masses; very different from the affordable, “every person’s homes” that they were touted as when first asking for money for the charity.
I believe Pitt tried to build eco-friendly homes. Geez. How picky do you want to be? He spent vast amounts of his own money and time and tried to build environmentally friendly homes to boot. No home is to every person’s taste. Give the guy a break!
Maybe you should educate yourself on the differences between Jolie’s OFFICIAL work and Madonna’s purchasing and self-interest, before making such foolish and ignorant statements in future lama…. I’m glad so many other informed people put you and your ignorance in your place…..
The president is correct. Kindness is quite. If I were to do something for another person, it would be coming from a good place. I’d be very upset if it was made into something big. People who are truly selfless don’t seek out attention or praises. I also feel that if you have Madonna money it is your duty to do good for the world.
Free and anonymous– it’s about time someone say this nice and loud.
I too was struck by this amazing statement. Joyce Banda sounds like an utterly brilliant woman.
I know, right? That statement was so utterly true and wonderful.
I agree, she not only made good points she wrote them in a very powerful way. This makes me want to learn more about the governing choices of President Banda.
And this is why you don’t approach such a person with a ‘hey Joyce!’ type letter.
Africans are very formal, and when they put a rebuke in writing, ouch!!! watch out.
@lak – that is the truth. how could she not know? i mean, really? so disrespectful and old world, just euwww…
Celebrity: How Entertainers Took Over The World and Why We Need an Exit Strategy – Marina Hyde
These days, entertainers no longer just entertain: they advocate dubious ‘religions’, work for the United Nations, get face-time with heads of state and monopolise problems they are infinitely qualified to solve – problems like Africa, the Middle East, and AIDS.
We stand at the beginning of a bright new chapter in human history. Feast your eyes, then, on Sharon Stone’s peace mission to Israel, on a world where Angelina Jolie advises on the Iraqi reconstruction effort or Charlie Sheen analyses 9/11, and in which Jude Law’s attempts to establish contact with the Taliban are reported without irony.
Celebrity is a roadmap, a survivalist’s guide, a Rosetta Stone for our times: without a copy you are not equipped to engage with the world…
love this book. i started reading Marina’s ‘lost in showbiz’ column because of it. It really is absurd and it is our own shame that we won’t listen or pay attention until a celebrity is parachuted in to make us pay attention.
This book is a must read.
This is so true. It’s very ironic, especially given that many, not all, but many actors/actresses are under educated. They may be well informed, but they do not have wide knowledge about a lot of things because they spent their learning years perfecting their acting craft, not learning about the world as a whole.
I think I may send President Banda some roses and a type written thank you letter.
THIS!
Hahaha~Madge certainly got her comeuppance, didn’t she?
You should send some hydrangeas…you know, the flower that Madonna “loathes”.
How did I ever forget that? I used to listen to it for laugh out loud laughs! It was priceless.
Thanks for reminding me
You’re welcome, Lulu! 🙂
oooh Slam. I think I might love this new President. Madonna would have expected VIP Treatment and out of 15 million 450,000 is all anyone has seen? Now she backs down on her promises and she expects the government to jump when she says so? Good for them for not putting up with her rubbish I think she might have had a harder time adopting if the current President had been in power. Madonna needs to come good on her promises or don’t make them.
Madge got her ass handed to her. Good!
Oh I dont know where to begin. Good on the President of Malawi.
Then, if Raising Malawi is Madonna’s charity, then she is responsible for it. Period. Not the management. And I find it hard to believe that she didnt know what was going on – I dont know if you can publish that – she maybe ignored the situation or believed what she was told but hey, she was not born yesterday. Where did the money go? This makes me trust even less celebrity endorsed charities. Not that I did before.
That’s right ilovejapanese – Madonna didn’t get to where she is by NOT micromanaging her life and finances. There is absolutely no way that anybody would have got anyway with such creative financial manoeuvres if the missing money was part of her personal fortune.
A very interesting tid-bit that fueled this little battle is that Joyce Banda’s Sister is highly suspect of embezzling the money from Madonna’s Foundation.
“Madonna didn’t have a so-called VIP status in Malawi; to have something stripped you have to have it in the first place,” he said, before pointing out that the President’s sister, Anjimile Oponyo, was fired from her position as head of Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi, in 2011 on suspicion of theft.
@Spinner so is that the reason Madonna has not built any of the schools she promised to build? Is that the reason why Madonna would address a president of a country as Joyce in a letter? I see her rep hasn’t denied she wrote that letter.I was hoping it was a hoax or prank.
There’s also speculation that the higher ups in Raising Malawi tried to pin the embezzlement on the sister. One thing’s for certain: they know how sketch the charity is!
Wasn’t it the President of Malawi’s own sister that stole the money?
Madonna is so gross!
Madonna put this on her FB page so now her fans are saying awful things about Banda and third world leaders some things bordering on racist IMO.Why is a 55 yo multimillionaire posting this on her FB page?
What!!! This b*tch, If you want to help, help but don’t expect that 3rd world countries will kiss your ass in return. you help because you want to and it’s the right thing to do, not because you want a bunch of Africans crawling on their knees before your presence for the foreseeable future. That’s not true kindness, the president is right about that because it is no longer about the people but your narcissistic ego. And she should quit coming to Malawi, she is frightening the wildlife and we rely on that for our economic sustenance ito tourism…you can buy our babies but please quit starting stampedes in the form of our animals making a beeline for Tanzania or worse Kenya…that’s money out our pockets, man and 400k ain’t going to cut it.
Why would the President of a country post a personal letter?
amazing. madonna’s actions here are really beyond the pale. $400k really? This woman has hundreds of millions of dollars.
I thought she was a billionaire.
Actually, she’s reportedly now a billionaire. Probably from keeping all her money!
There was a blind item about her wanting to be labeled a billionaire, but the numbers didn’t add up.
Forbes wrote and article about why they don’t consider her a billionaire…because she her net worth about half of that.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/03/28/why-madonna-isnt-on-the-forbes-billionaires-list/
Evyn, I read that too. According to that source, Forbes crunched the numbers and she is no where near 1 billion.
Actually, Evyn. Madonna is a billionaire. Forbes retracted their article.
Madonna is a billionaire. She has been one for a while as well. It’s just that she doesn’t report her earnings or brag about them.
SuperAmanda, can you provide a source for your comment that Forbes retracted the article? When I search for information…all I get is a link to the original article and your comment here on Celebitchy. The article curently on Forbes website doesn’t make any mention of it being retracted.
This is priceless! Sounds like someone wasn’t impressed with Madge or her handwritten, poorly spelled, too familiar note. Take that Madge! Your self importance doesn’t fly in Malawi.
Insufferable dumb biotch. Too stupid to be embarrased, I’m sure.
First, I want to say that I am not Jewish, but celebrities have made a mockery of Kabbalah. Kabbalah isn’t like the Co$, it is a form of Judaism Mysticism, which is only reserved to Rabbi’s, since it is so severely misunderstood and difficult to interpret. I don’t know what the celebrity version is, but they treat it like it is some sort of trend and most people I know in the Jewish community find it disrespectful.
I loathe Madonna and this is just another example of what an entitled liar she is, not to mention the lack of talent this woman has. Why would you lie about the amount of money you’re willing to donate and then ask other people to donate for you?
I love that Madonna says she never demanded VIP airport treatment….but I bet her assistants demanded it for her!!
Madonna won’t get her hands dirty, we know this, her minions will do it for her.
I’ve heard about her ridiculous demands for hotel and dressing rooms, even the cars that chauffer her around. So, yeah, I believe she made those demands.
I’m not surprised by any of this. To me, Madonna has always come across as extremely insincere in almost everything she does.
Madonna is such a phoney. This is the a perfect example of why you shouldn’t donate money to celebrity charities, many are just mismanaged scams. I’d rather donate to UNICEF, at least I know my money would be handled by professionals.
Yep, most are tax shelters.
Check out Heifer International!!! it is an amazing program that buys food animals for poor regions in the world, so that people can breed the animals and then pay forward to other members in the community half of the babies, so that THEY in turn can produce community food and survive. You can buy “shares” in larger animals, or smaller animals like poultry.
Love that charity! We donate to them as well after seeing the 60 Minutes segment about young lady who went to Harvard all thanks to the gift of a goat.
They really are great.
My husband and I don’t exchange Christmas gifts. We give bees, ducks, goats, cows, etc instead….lol
Here’s the 60 Minutes report. “Beatrice’s Goat Fed a Dream”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-666166.html
Great charity. Simple economics. And operational since after the second world war.
Thanks for the recommendation!! I try and donate to well known and respected charities(ASPCA, UNICEF) and local(Orphan Angels No Kill Cat Shelter and an org that helps women who have been released from prison and need help re-integrating with their families.)
I knew that would upset Ms. Banda :/
I live in Central Africa (as an expat). And one of the shittiest things I’ve noticed is that charity-peddling pop stars here rarely, if ever, give the elected authorities the reverence they deserve. It seems like since they’re just African leaders, they don’t merit the same respect one would give the President of France or the US.
Bless Joyce Banda for not taking that shit.
By the way: people here hate Bono. And Malawians absolutely despise Madonna. And rightfully so. They spend money on such nonsense and pretend like it’s charity. Do you know how much you can build here with 400k? You could build a number of schools, quite easily. If all she did was tack on some classrooms to existing schools, there is no way she spent that much money. Just no fucking way.
My guess is it went to greasing palms for her snatching up African children without going through the proper channels.
+1000
May I also say that it really is wonderful how international CB is!
I agree, I LOVE reading the non-US perspectives that are in the comments section. It is enlightening.
I love it too! It’s really interesting to get opinions from all around the world, and to learn from them. Plus, as someone who grew up pre-widespread internet, it’s fascinating to converse with people on the other side of the world.
I’m an expat in Southern Africa (15 years now!) and agree with you 100%.
p.s. Where are you in Central Africa???
so would i be an expat too? 25yrs now?! 🙂
I raised my eyebrows too at what they claim they did with that $400K. We can have a different discussion about the $15M, but $400M goes really, really, really far in central Africa. I can’t believe that’s all they have to show for it.
Oh and I really wanted to say this: there are so many goog people who want to adopt, and the adoption process is a beatch, exhausting, it take so much time and there is no guarantee of success. And she – a woman who shows her crotch on stage and flirts big time, to put it nicely, with controversy (Im sure you know what Im talking about) should have it easier? Its not possible to separate who she is from the person on stage or in music videos. She doesnt seem to have a very nice character. Plus, it looks like she tries to buy everything in her life. And she is too obsessed with herself. Way too vain. Not very compatible with motherhood.
I think that what Sandra Bullock did was nice.
Why is Madonna being blamed that she had it easier to adopt than other people? She didn’t kidnap those kids. Wouldn’t it be the adoption agencies fault or even Malawi for letting her do it? I think people’s hatred of Madonna is not allowing them to think clearly. I also think it shows a lack of class on the President for showing everyone a personal letter written to her. What other head of a country would do that?
Madonnas is a great example of ruthlessness and luck, as she has little talent other than to be an exhibitionist, and even that is shifting toward the repulsive at her age. her letter alone as well as every interview indicate a huge intellectual and empathetic void. I’ve never liked her. She would need an entire precinct in hell just to cover her luggage.
Ahahaha Aud I love this comment 🙂
Really well said Aud. Love the “ruthlessness and luck” line!
Also she came about at just the right time. The 80’s was the perfect time foster a pop artist such as Madonna. But you are right, she is very very lucky that she blew up and she should be thanking the stars everyday!
President Banda should have sent her a bouquet of hydrangeas.
Hehehe!
Madonna has lived to long with her own press machine and now believes she IS the Queen B. Apparently she is having a hard time accepting that she is not the cutting edge babe she used to be; I think that accelerates her attempts to remain relevant with more and more “Look at MEEEEE” moments like the Cub Scout uniform and, well, just fill in the blank.
Blegh.
Also, the handwritten note is laughable. Other countries are so much more formal than we are in the USA, and President Banda and her staff probably fell on the floor laughing at Madonna’s gaucheness.
Yes, gauche is the perfect descriptive when it comes to Madge. And stupid and selfish and delusional. AND disgustingly cheap.
*phew* That felt good.
Madonna is a great business woman, and I am pretty sure no one steals the money she gets from her tours, or her music, this is why I think she didn’t give a crap about her charity. It was PR.
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to read these comments. My mother is Malawian and she is a teacher and she was naive enough to think that Madonna was going to do some good there. She has been heartbroken by this foolishness. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. And I know that I’m biased but they are also some of the most gentle and loving and forgiving people. My father is Nigerian and and the contrast between the two countries is startling(but those are my people and I love them:) Madonna should go to Nigeria and try this; google “necklacing” to see what she would have been in for. You can get necklaced in Nigeria for stealing sugar cane, never mind millions of dollars.
This woman is a disgusting phony. Shame on her for using people who are already struggling for self-promotion.
WTF, is there a REAL charity that you’d recommend for Malawi? I’d love to donate to an organization that is really in it to help the Malawians and not the people running the charity.
Google AGE Africa. A DC based charity that funds education for young girls in Malawi.
Thanks Thelma. They are a VERY small charity, unrated by Charity Navigator or GuideStar. Do you happen to know anything about them personally?
I’ve spent time in Malawi and the whole place is pretty dysfunctional. The government is riddled with corruption. In Madonna’s defense, I would hazard a guess that she pulled out on promised monies when she saw it was primarily going to grease the pockets of government officials. It’s difficult to get anything official done there. I don’t think it’s fair to put all the blame on Madonna.
I agree. Banda’s own Sister was fired as head of Madonna’s Malawi Foundation. There is a whole lot of corruption going on here.
A valid point but it also depends on when you were in Malawi. The previous leader was awful and President Banda is doing an excellent job of the trying to right the slew of problems he created.
Malawi also does a number of things right. It is one of the few countries in Africa that is a net food exporter thanks to some innovative programs for small farmers. In other words, it gives food to the World Food Program, not the other way around.
Malawi became a net food exporter b/c of international pressure: they’re exporting food to Western nations while their own people starve. There is a lot of anger at the Mutharika administration because of that, but there is also anger at the new Banda government. She has had opposition leaders arrested so she doesn’t have to face them in next year’s election, has had the currency devalued twice, and is facing substantial unhappiness at home while she meets with foreign leaders in order to continue selling off Malawian resources. Madonna may be a fraud and a phony and rude to boot, but Banda is not necessarily great. She’s also a devotee of the cult-like televangelist TB Joshua.
I highly recommend those of us in the developed world research the nations we’re so quick to form judgments about, since our careless support or detraction impacts the lives of millions of people.
@ Annie
Malawi became a net exporter of staple foods for crisis situations in Africa because it could. This year, it seems the favor may need to be returned – for a variety of reasons. Beyond a small amount of macadamia nuts and a large amount of tobacco, virtually nothing it grows finds its way to the West.
I live in Africa and go off on the West all of the time when the occasional African story comes up. And I totally agree with anyone who despises what the IMF peddles as ‘good policy’ on the continent. But the idea that Malawians are starving so the West can indulge simply isn’t accurate.
Banda has only been in power a year – far too early to cast huge judgements in my opinion. Anyone interested in an objective review of her first year (the good and bad) should read this:
www(dot)news24(dot)com/Africa/News/Malawi-wobbles-under-Joyce-Banda-20130328
President Banda had no problem granting Madonna a VIP status when her sister was working for Madonna’s charity. They couldn’t offer her enough when Madonna promoted Malawi and adopted children. We all know why: MONEY. I’m no fool despite being a fan.
She is involved but she is also busy. To say she didn’t care because of her type A personality is bull considering the amount of work this woman does in various fields. She is supposed to do all the charity work by herself then? Administration, accountancy etc..? She’s not supposed to micro-manage. When you hire people, you expect them to do the job.
Madonna ordered the audit for her charity herself. Meaning, she did know that something was up. Turns out, trusted the wrong people, it happens. You can’t predict such things and Madonna certainly didn’t want that to happen.
There is a reason why Anderson and van den Bossche were cut out of her life. And why the sister of President Banda was let go! They were all spending money on themselves. Her sister couldn’t manage a school and spend money on cars and drivers! Corruption. And then there was the problem with people saying they weren’t compensated enough for their land.
Before all this, again, the president had no problems supporting Madonna and being in her documentary.
After the audit, the plans were scrapped to build a school for the obvious reason that you have to plan everything again. You don’t build your charity up again after it has been internally tore down. They already spent almost 4 million dollars on that Academy without actually building anything! Madonna changed the management and put herself in it more too. And she continued her work, how is that not caring? Being selfish? She had to sack almost everybody and start all over again. But yeah, she’s so evil, that was her plan all along.
Furthermore, I don’t see how her building classrooms in existing blocks is a bad thing? It’s all according to the national standards. If they criticize her now, after all that + the hospitals she funded, why should Madonna feel obligated to do more? They basically try to humiliate her by stripping away a status they granted. She gave her sister a job, she made promises but her own people couldn’t keep their promise and were corrupt. Why doesn’t the President address that fact?
It’s so easy to focus on the white rich popstar when your own family is corrupt and doesn’t want to further education right? Madonna is far from perfect, it’s clear she’s delusional and disconnected, but this is a problem on a far more greater scale. Again, too easy to blame Madonna, especially when the President is connected to the corruption scandal too.
@ NM9005
Thank you so much. Well said.
Yes!
Madonna is no stranger to this woman…the President is showing sour grapes and getting revenge.
I’m team Madonna on this all the way.
People need to stop putting this corrupt President on a pedestal that she hardly deserves.
Is Madonna supposed to be patted on the back for calling for an investigation of the charity after rumors of mismanagement were around for years? Do you know how lax oversight had to be for them to lose millions of dollars like that? And let’s get real: pretty much anyone could have seen this coming a mile away with the shady people that were at the top of that charity.
Thank you NM9005. It’s nice to know there are people out there using their brain. Madonna is no saint but she was actually trying to help.
Maybe you should stop listening to Madona PR machine and sometimes read neutral report ? To fire her, she accused Anjimile Oponyothe (the sister) of “outlandish expenditures,” including a high salary, a car, housing, and a golf-club membership. Said salary, housing and golf membership were included in her contract with Madonna.
The extravagant golf membership cost less than 500$ a year and was a networking tool. The car was a used Toyota. Her high salary, $96,000, was less than what she was used to (worked at the World Bank and the UN)and less than what a US expat could have expected. For that salary, she actually moved to Malawi with four of her six children.
You guys are fool of it. For the president to make such a statement shows she has a lack of class. Madonna is trying to do good things. What have YOU guys done?
.
What Madonna is doing just stinks of colonialism brainwashing Africans with foreign religion. White rich woman buys African children by donating money to the country of their birth. She has the cheek to call her charity Raising Malawi when she doesnt raise her own children sheesh…There are plenty of people who donate at the goodness of their heart – Madonna doesn’t have one.
Seriously. She lets Madonna do whatever she wants as long as her sister gets paid but as soon as she gets fired for stealing Madonna is the bad guy bc she’s a terrible speller.
It’s my understanding that in the Jewish faith when you donate or perform a good deed it is a “mitzvah” and it’t taboo to take credit…if even a 3rd party touts it…then it doesn’t count!
This is one of my favorite things about the religion.
It’s been my experience in my religion ( won’t say which cause don’t wasn’t to offend) that the PRIMARY purpose was being glorified/ recognized …,it’s led to some disturbing incidents in my city.
LaDonna should adopt the practice of mitvah’s or go away
I must have missed the post about Madonna’s inappropriately familiar & hilariously badly written note to President Banda. I just saw it–& Oh my God. Is that really how she writes?
And to a President? How embarrassing! & I am sure she has no idea how that letter comes across. I don’t know how you could be disconnected enough to address a President in this way. That note sounds like Lucy Ricardo inviting Ethel Mertz to a coffee klatch.
Madonna needs to build an elementary school, & then enroll in it.
it is my understanding that Madonna had a pre-existing “friendship” with this woman who is now irritated because Madonna fired her corrupt sister.
There are two sides to this.
There’s a french saying that goes perfectly here : “on n’a pas pas gardé les cochons ensemble”.
They are not childhood friends, BFF or family. They are mere acquaintances. One is a singer, the other is the country official president. And Madonna was not writing to Joyce the personn, but to Madam President Banda.
Madonna let her cult embezzle all that money and she knew about it too. Just cus she didnt take the money herself but let other and knew about it makes her just as guilty. Kabbalah and madonna should both be brought to juistice but we all know thats not going to happen. So im glad she was treated like a commoner on her trip to malawi I think she should have been treated worse cus she deserves it for trying to scam a carity and these poor people. And no I dont think shes done with kabbalah shes just not going to let the handle the charitys finances anymore. Shes in deep in kabbalah for life like tc with scientology.
Madonna lost several million of her own money in her charity back when I remember reading an article on it. She did the smart thing and started over and partnered with an already existing, reputable organization already on the ground floor, buildOn, doing this work and listened to their advice on how to do it in the most effective manner. They know best on what the kids need in these outlying areas.
The President’s sister was on Madonna’s board, and from what I remember has been one of the ones accused of wasting the funds for their own gain. Hmmm, I wonder why the President hates Madonna now.
I think Madonna came back and did it the right way actually, what would meet the needs there. So there’s my defense of her.
Here’s my criticism. I never donate to celeb charities for this reason, and I think Madonna is beyond wealthy. And although I’m sure she donates a healthy amount to charities (even her brother admitted she did when he was on the outs with her), I don’t consider her
to be a truly charitable person in relation to her wealth. Go take ten million of your own money and fund the damn schools and get your rich frends to match it, but don’t come to me asking for money when you’re sitting on 500 million dollars in assets, such as money, homes, etc.
The Berg guy was a snake-charmer and Madonna has donated over twelve million to Kabbalah over all these years. I bet a lot of that went into that family’s grandiose plans and lifestyle. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Madonna is narcissistic. I say this as a fan. It is just more pronounced these last years.
Madonna should help Detroit!
This could be a case of Madonna simply hiring the wrong people even though she could genuinely be interested to help. It then exploded into a PR mess. She could be more involved yes, but her full time job is being an entertainer. Some people still want to give money and resources because they may not be able to give time. Guess her team did not do more research. I feel that Madonna may have her ego and high standards but I dont think she is a cruel woman devoid of all feelings. The situation can still be salvaged once both parties set aside egos and and just work together damn it. There are still communities that can be helped. Malawi like any country should help themselves also but of course this is easier said than done. I still wish all parties the best.