'Guy was nothing but a cheap, fake gold-digger,' says Madonna as divorce war explodes

Madonna has hit out at her estranged husband Guy Ritchie, branding him 'a phoney' and a money-hungry gold digger'.

A week after announcing their intentions to divorce, close sources of the pop star say she is sick and tired of his attacks on her in the press and is keen to see him portrayed differently.

Good friends of the Material Girl told gossip blogger PerezHilton.com that Guy lived off Madonna's multi-million dollar bank account throughout their seven and a half year marriage, despite having his own fortune.
A source close to Madonna said: 'For his entire marriage to M, Guy lived like a king. He never spent a dime of his own money for their lifestyle or the children.'

Insiders told Perez that Guy insisted Madonna fund his holidays and buy a 1,200 acre country estate for him.

A source said: 'Madonna finally got fed up with him never being around and being used and filed for a divorce.

'Guy has threatened to go after half of M's hard-earned money, claiming that the law is on his side.

'He doesn't care that the world thinks of him as Heather Mills. He doesn't care that he has his own money and doesn't need hers. He feels he is entitled to half of her empire.
Madonna has been based in New York over the last few weeks as she performs North American dates on her Sticky & Sweet World Tour, while Guy is continuing to live in the couple's London townhouse while he directs his new film Sherlock Holmes.

Despite putting on a brave face on stage, friends of Madonna said she is devastated by the negative criticism she has received in the media since the break-up.

A source said: 'Guy Ritchie is a fake and a phoney. He is not a macho man. Not an English lad. Not a gentleman. Not spiritual. He's just a money-hungry gold digger that doesn't want to earn his way.'

In the divorce, the couple are expected to battle over their Marylebone home and their country estate in Wiltshire.

Since the split, speculation over the singer's friendship with New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez has intensified, with the couple expected to go public with their 'relationship' by the end of the year.

Speculation of a romantic relationship between the pair has been rife after the baseball star has been seen out and about with the pop star on a number of occasions since the summer.

Rodriguez, 33, is apparently weeks away from buying a Manhattan penthouse, worth an estimated £40million, just two blocks away from Madonna's apartment.