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Madonna is divorcing husband Guy Ritchie, according to a joint statement issued Oct. 15.

After months of speculation, the couple is ending its eight-year marriage, which the Daily Mail described as “one of show business’ most volatile unions.”

The paper ran the story on the front page Oct. 15 and estimated that husband Guy Ritchie, the 40-year-old British film director who made “Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels,” could get a £50 million ($80 million) settlement.

The story first appeared on the front page of The Sun, which claimed it as an exclusive and said the couple would be immediately going public with the news “because they can’t bear to live with the pretense any longer.”

The story says Madonna and Ritchie have had a string of shouting matches about the amount of time each devotes to their careers, and over Madonna’s desire to adopt another child.

“These arguments smashed through their attempts at reconciliation like a sledgehammer,” the paper claims.
Madonna, 50, is one of the world’s richest women and has just completed the record-breaking European leg of her latest tour. She’s reportedly worth £300 million.

She broke the box office record at London’s Wembley Stadium, pulling 73,000 people and grossing more than £6.7 million ($11.8 million).

She got nearly as many at Dubendorf, near Zurich, where she broke the attendance record for a Swiss concert.

The last show of the tour at Athens O.A.K.A. Stadium Sept. 27 smashed all Greek attendance and box office records as 75,000 people paid more than euro 6 million ($8.2 million) to see her.

Nana Trandou of Didi Music, who co-promoted the Athens show with Tim Dowdall of Live Nation, said it was “a landmark in the history of live entertainment in Greece.”