Madonna Accepts Damages Over Privacy Invasion

Madonna and her twin daughters Stella and Estere have accepted damages from the publisher of the Mail Online website over an article that was a “serious invasion of privacy,” a lawyer for the star said Thursday.

Thoko Chikondi/AP, file – Madonna
with her adopted children David, Stella and Mercy, at the opening of The Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care, located at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in the city of Blantyre, Malawi.

Madonna sued Associated Newspapers over a January story giving details of her adoption of the 4-year-old twins from Malawi.

Her lawyer, Jenny Afia, told a judge in London that the story, published while the adoption was underway, could have “threatened the integrity and/or outcome of the adoption process which would have had potentially life-changing implications for the girls, as well as for Madonna and her family.”

“Under Malawian law and equivalent provisions under English law, there are rules around identifying children who are in the process of being adopted, principally for their own security and welfare,” Afia said.

She said the article revealed the girls’ names, race, age, the fact they lived in an orphanage in Malawi and the fact they were the subject of pending applications for adoption by Madonna.

She said the publisher had agreed to pay Madonna’s legal costs and undisclosed damages. Afia said Madonna would donate the damages to a pediatric hospital in Malawi.

“She is pleased that at least some good can come out of the situation,” the lawyer said.

Madonna was not at London’s High Court for Thursday’s hearing. The singer has six children, including four adopted from Malawi.