Madonna Wins Lawsuit Against Tabloid That Leaked Her Adoption Details
VIDEO: Madonna Adopts Twin Girls Esther & Stella From Malawi (02/09/2017)
By Hayden Wright
(RADIO.COM) – In February, Madonna adopted four-year-old twin girls (named Stella and Estere) from Malawi, the African nation where she's focused her humanitarian efforts since at least 2006. The Daily Mail ran an article in January disclosing the girls' names, race, age and more details about their pre-adoption life in an orphanage. Madonna sued the tabloid for "considerable personal distress and anxiety" as well as putting her adoption process at risk.
"The Mail Online published it at a time when, as the journalist ought to have appreciated, Madonna would be powerless to protect the girls from harm," Madonna's attorney Jenny Afia wrote. "Their actions could, in her view, have threatened the integrity and/or outcome of the adoption process which would have had potentially life-changing implications for the girls, as well as for Madonna and her family."
The Queen of Pop triumphed in the suit: Associated Newspapers, which presides over The Daily Mail, will pay damages to Madonna and her twin daughters for the "serious invasion of privacy," reports .
In addition to damages, The Daily Mail will pay Madonna's legal costs. The Material Girl's attorney said proceeds from the suit will benefit the Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery, a Malawi hospital Madonna launched this summer.
"She is pleased that at least some good can come out of the situation," Afia said.
©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved.