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Madonna and Guy Ritchie have found themselves in the midst of a residence battle after one of their two teenage sons refused to return from London to the US to be with his mother.
The Material Girl singer appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, telling a judge that her son had informed her that he would prefer to stay in the UK with his film-director dad.
The 57-year-old pop diva, who is currently in the middle of her Rebel Heart world tour, asked Justice Deborah Kaplan to force her ex-husband to send their 15-year-old son, Rocco, to New York.
Legal feud: Madonna and Guy Ritchie are battling it out in court over the residence of their 15-year-old son, Rocco, who reportedly refused to return to New York this week. The photo on the left shows Rocco with his mother in Manhattan in August, while the image on the right depicts the teen with Ritchie in June 2015
What a boy wants: Ritchie’s attorney said in court that Rocco, 15, pictured here in August 2015 on the red carpet with his father, stepmother Jacqui Ainsley and brother David, has made it clear he wants to stay in the UK
An attorney representing Mr Ritchie responded that the teen ‘has expressed very clearly that he does not want to return to New York,’ the New York Daily News reported.
When asked by the judge whether Ritchie, 47, has prevented his son from returning to the US, the filmmaker’s lawyer, Eric Buckley, reportedly replied: ‘Effectively yes.’
Kaplan ruled that Rocco Ritchie must return to New York and talk to his mother before deciding which parent he prefers.
The 15-year-old will be represented in the custody case by his own court-appointed attorney, Justice Kaplan decreed.
‘I’m directing the child to be returned to New York,’ Kaplan told the singer, who showed up in court in a black cape. ‘If he wants to stay with his father, he must return to his mother.’
Daily Mail on Wednesday reached out to Guy Ritchie’s representatives for comment and was waiting to hear back.
Madonna and Ritche tied the knot in 2000 and divorced in 2008. Besides Rocco, they also have an adopted son, David Banda, who is 10 years old.
The Vogue songstress has two other children, Lourdes Leon, 19, and Mercy James, 9, who was also adopted.
Madonna spent Thanksgiving with Rocco and David in Barcelona, Spain, where she hosted a dinner for about 70 guests after performing two concerts at Palau Sant Jordi arena.
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