They’ll settle this soon. A U.K. judge ruled on Monday, March 21, that Madonna and Guy Ritchie‘s nasty ongoing custody battle over their 15-year-old son, Rocco Ritchie, will be settled in the U.S.
The high-profile exes have been waging a public dispute over their son since December 2015, when Rocco left Madonna’s Rebel Heart world tour to be with his father in London. The teen, who attended school in NYC, subsequently refused to return home.
On Monday, London-based Justice MacDonald urged the stars to find an “amicable resolution” in the battle over Rocco, and ruled that the matter will play out in NYC under the U.S. legal system.
“I renew, one final time, my plea for both parents to seek and to find an amicable resolution to the dispute between them,” Justice MacDonald said, scolding the pop superstar, 57, and the film director, 46, for their recent behavior. “As I observed during the course of the hearing, summer does not last forever. The boy very quickly becomes the man. It would be a very great tragedy for Rocco if any more of the previous and fast receding days of his childhood were to be taken up by this dispute.”
The British judge added in his 22-page ruling that it’s “far better for each of his parents to spend that time enjoying, in turn, the company of the mature, articulate and reflective young man who is their son and who is a very great credit to them both.”
The “Living for Love” singer and the Sherlock Holmes director divorced in late 2008 after 10 years together. Rocco has lived with his mom since his parents split.
Earlier this past month, tabloid reports claimed that Madonna had a meltdown onstage during one show in Australia and called Ritchie a “son of a bitch” as she mimed taking a swig of alcohol. She subsequently took to Instagram and slammed claims that she was either high or drunk on stage.
Despite the contentious situation between his parents, Rocco is still on speaking terms with his mom. “They are trying to mediate themselves,” a source exclusively revealed to Us Weekly last week. “Rocco has been the one reaching out to Madonna. She and Guy are not on speaking terms.”
The Material Girl is also mom of Lourdes, 19, and David and Mercy, both 10. The Rebel Heart Tour wrapped in Sydney, Australia, this past Sunday after 82 shows over six months.
