Photo: Instagram
She did it for her dad.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Nov 18, 2019
Just in time for the holidays, Madonna has ended her feud with her brother Christopher Ciccone. Madonna and her 59-year-old brother have been feuding since he wrote his tell-all book Life with My Sister Madonna in 2008. Remember what a mess that was? According to Radar, Madonna and her father, Silvio Anthony "Tony" Ciccone, had a difficult relationship for years. Lately, however, Madonna has mended fences with her 88-year-old dad as well.
Chris spoke to Radar and said: “We are at peace now and just spoke last week. I recently moved from Los Angeles back to Michigan where my father and family own a vineyard and winery.”
Who is Madonna's brother? And what was the feud about in the first place?
1. Family background
Madonna's father had eight kids. Six of them were by his first wife Madonna Louise Ciccone. She died of breast cancer at 30. Madonna Sr. and Tony had Anthony, Martin, Madonna, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie. He had two kids with his second wife, Joan Gustafson: Jennifer and Mario. Tony and Joan married in 1966. She was the family's housekeeper.
2. Christopher
Christopher Ciccone is the fourth of the six children of Tony Ciccone and Madonna Louise Ciccone. In the sibling lineup, he is the next youngest after Madonna. He started out as his sister's assistant, concert tour director and art director. He also worked with Madonna on her 1991 documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare.
3. Their relationship deteriorated
Family relationships can be fraught under normal circumstances. When one sibling is a global superstar, well, you can imagine just how complicated things can get. That's exactly what happened between Madonna and her brother Christopher. It all started in 2001 when Madonna didn't hire him as the tour director for the Drowned World Tour. In an interview with The Guardian in 2009, Ciccone said: "From the moment I found out that I wasn't doing Drowned World, to her and Guy's wedding, everything became a bit of a blur, a dark, fairly negative period of time for me."
4. She accused him of theft
Ciccone claims that Madonna manipulated him into working for free sometimes and forced him to perform tasks he didn't want to do. He also alleges that their relationship ended completely when she accused him of theft via email. He said that his sister accused him "of swindling her after 20 years of being the only person that hadn't."
5. His book didn't help matters
In 2008, Life with My Sister Madonna came out. The book accused Madonna of being Machiavellian, dominating, a tyrant, selfish, bossy and mean. He claimed that she demeaned him and outed him as gay on television. Ciccone detailed life growing up with Madonna. One of the legends surrounding Madonna and her rise to fame is that she arrived in New York City with $35, a pair of ballet slippers and a dream. Christopher said that was all made up. Madonna tried to stop the publication of the book but was unable to.
6. The feud heated up again
In 2017, Ciccone was happy to let anyone who would listen know that he still thought his sister was horrific. In an interview with Page Six two years ago, he accused his sister of blacklisting him in Hollywood. He said: "When I got back to LA, my 500 acquaintances suddenly turned out to be four friends. She’s quite powerful in Los Angeles, in the industry. I was working in the industry doing music videos and tours and it was difficult to get work, if not impossible.”
7. But now they've made up ... for now
Christopher Ciccone seems to be still trying to control the narrative about his relationship with his sister. In the recent Radar interview, he said: "Madonna has been great! She regularly speaks to our dad while some of our siblings work at the winery. We are all united."
Madonna is currently on her Madame X tour and slated to do 10 shows in Los Angeles before moving on to other cities.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based writer and editor covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.