Madonna and Jesus (J Randy Taraborrelli)
Madonna once complained to me during an interview:
“Why is it that other women get to take their time about matters of the heart,
but not me?
No, I have to make an instant decision just for the sake of a good headline.”
At the time, Madonna was talking about her marriage to Sean Penn and
whether or not she was going to end it in order to be with actor Warren Beatty.
And now, 21 years later, Madonna is facing the same sort of quandary
as the world’s press demands to know:
Is she over her boyfriend of more than a year, Brazilian model Jesus Luz?
And if so, is she about to return to her former consort, baseball player Alex Rodriguez?
In truth, despite numerous recent reports suggesting that Madonna has made up her mind
about these two paramours, there is no simple answer.
Or as Madonna put it to a close friend in London:
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, and I’m certainly not
going to rush a decision to satisfy the curious.
I have a life. I wish other people would get lives too,
and maybe stop worrying about mine.”
Well, of course, that’s never going to happen. She is Madonna, after all.
And as her biographer I know only too well that she has always been
a lightning rod for controversy. Her indecision about Jesus, meanwhile,
does seem a bit perplexing, especially since she was talking about possibly
marrying him as recently as just a few months ago.
So, what happened?
The pair were last seen together in January in New York,
attending a screening of the movie, Avatar. Both were so disguised with hoods
and winter clothing, it was impossible to see their expressions.
However, the way Madonna insisted upon walking a few paces ahead of Jesus
made some observers wonder if she was even happy to be in his company.
“The problem with Jesus is as simple as it is obvious,”
explained one of her friends.
“It’s the age difference. He’s 23. She’s 51. How long could it last?
How it even lasted a year seems a miracle to a lot of people.
He’s perfectly nice, a gentleman and very smart.
But they are in such different places in their lives.”
It’s true, of course. Jesus is a model who is also a professional DJ.
As a result of his association with Madonna, he’s come quite far in his career
this past year. At the recent São Paulo Fashion Week he was absolutely
engulfed by media everywhere he went, and this was largely because
of who he was dating. (He did look pretty striking on that catwalk, though,
no doubt about that.)
For her part, Madonna is a superstar who was very lonely and sad after
her divorce from Guy Ritchie at the end of 2008.
And, as a result of her time with the charming Luz, she was able not only
to heal her broken heart but also to feel whole again – or so say her friends.
“They both benefited,” says the source,
“but it’s pretty much over now.
Or, as Madonna told me,
‘We’ve just run out of things to talk about. I mean, it’s really pushing it for us
to have common ground these days. We have Kabbalah, but that’s about it.’”
If Madonna didn’t have strong feelings for Jesus, a decision about
him would be much easier to make. In fact, she cares about him deeply.
She integrated him into her life, approved of him forging a solid relationship
with her four children – Mercy and David, both four, Rocco, nine, and Lourdes,
13 – and she grew to depend on him for emotional support.
(A recent tabloid report claiming she was contemplating trying for a baby with Jesus,
however, was a complete fabrication.)
“Also, of course, the physical intimacy they share is strong and powerful,”
says another intimate.
“Look, here’s the simple and honest truth: she was swept away by him
and she even thought she could marry him.
It happens. It was a sexy fantasy.
She’s only human. He’s adorable and, well… it happens.
“But she now sees that there is no future for him with her and she’s begun to think
it’s unfair to string him along,”
continues the source.
“He’s crazy about her. Truly, he is.
And I think she’s starting to feel guilty about it.”
According to people in her circle, Madonna told Jesus recently that she wants
to “take a break” from their relationship. She told him – according to these sources –
that she needs time to think about where they are headed and how she feels
about it.
“No, she did not break up with him,” says a source.
“But she definitely set the stage for it. If he wasn’t so busy, he probably
would be crushed. But the fact is that he is incredibly busy with his career right
now, so it’s easier for him to take.
She thinks this is a good time to create distance so she can make up her mind.
“I am certain they will remain friends, though. ‘Some of my
friends want to know what is what and they want to know now,’
she told me.
‘It’s all so reductive! I mean, to think that I can just toss Jesus aside,
that this is so easy for me.
I’m not sure what people think of me, really.
Do people really think I am that fickle?”
Apparently.
Or, at least judging from reports that Madonna has not only broken up
with Jesus but has reunited with Alex Rodriguez now that he has ended his
relationship with actress Kate Hudson.
She supposedly spent the weekend of 16 January at the baseball star’s estate
in Westchester County, New York. The two dated very briefly just after
Madonna’s divorce from Guy in 2008, but it was a surreptitious relationship at best.
“He was someone nice to talk to after her divorce,”
says a very reliable source.
“They are still in touch, yes. Did she spend the weekend with him
as reported? Well, the short answer is… no.
I don’t know how the rumour got started, but I can tell you
that she was in New York City that weekend with friends,
not in Westchester County with Alex.
Is it possible that she snuck away and had a secret meeting with Alex?
Of course.
She’s a free woman and anything is possible.
But… I seriously doubt it.”
Maybe surprisingly, some in Madonna’s inner circle aren’t even sure
she’s been intimate with A-Rod.
“I understand that it stretches credulity to suggest that the two
have not had sex but… I’m not so sure,”
says one of the singer’s relatives.
“All I know is that he was married at the time they first started dating
and Madonna said she would not have an affair with a married man.
She said that she would not want to have to explain it to Lourdes.
That’s what I know.”
Of course, Alex is no longer married . So where does that leave him and
Madonna?
“They’ve talked on the phone a few times,”
says that relative.
“He’s sweet. She likes him a lot.
Or as she put it when they first met, ‘Maybe in another time and
place we would have been together.’
And that’s where it stands today.
She’s not in a rush. Why is it that everyone else is in such a hurry
to see her hook up?”
Perhaps Madonna, herself, said it best to me many years ago when
she concluded of her love life:
“It is possible for me to not have a man, you know?
I mean, that is a possibility.
People act as if I must, must, must have a man in my life.
Well, guess what? I don’t.”
