Madonna Takes It to Oprah
Madonna is taking her Malawian adoption controversy to the highest court of public opinion: The Oprah Winfrey Show.
The Material Mom will chat with the Queen of Daytime about her decision to adopt 13-month-old David Banda in an interview taping Tuesday and airing Wednesday, a spokesperson for Harpo Productions said Monday.
The sit-down will mark the singer's first televised interview since she revealed earlier this month that she would be adding a son to her family and subsequently set off a maelstrom of heated international debate.
Despite her insistence that she followed the proper legal channels in adopting David, the proposed adoption has been challenged by human rights groups, who have accused Malawian officials of bending the rules for the celebrity in order to expedite the process.
Meanwhile, in a new twist seemingly tailor-made for good TV, the boy's father, Yohane Banda, now says he did not understand that "adoption" meant that he would be giving up custody of David permanently.
"If we were told she wants to take the baby as her own, we would not have consented, because I see no reason why I should give up my son," Banda told the Associated Press on Sunday.
Banda, who was forced to put David in an orphanage after his wife's death, has previously expressed his support for Madonna's actions and chastised the groups opposing the adoption.
"These so-called human rights groups should leave my baby alone," he told the Associated Press last week. "As father, I have okayed this—I have no problem. The village has no problem. Who are they to cause trouble? Please let them stop."
But the illiterate farmer now says he was never told that the adoption papers he signed meant that he would be giving up his son for life. He said he signed the documents believing "when David grows up, he will return back home to his village.
"I am just now realizing the meaning of 'adoption,' " he added.
However, Penson Kilembe, director of child welfare in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, dismissed Banda's remarks, claiming that every aspect of the adoption process was made clear.
"We explained every detail, and Madonna herself explained her intentions in the face of the judge and in Banda's presence," Kilembe told Reuters. "He (Banda) was asked several times in court if he understood what was going on, and he said he did."
Last week, Madonna penned an open letter stressing that she began the adoption the process many months before her trip to Malawi, and that she had abided by the same rules as "anyone else who adopts a child."
Even so, the Human Rights Consultative Committee, a coalition of 67 Malawi-based human rights organizations, has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the court waiver granting the "Like a Prayer" singer custody of David.
A hearing on the suit was scheduled for last Friday, but was pushed back a week to give government officials time to prepare.
An attorney for the Ritchies said the couple was ready to face any challenges to their adoption.
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