Madonna’s teen son says he’s not ‘living on the streets’ after dire Instagram post
David Banda raised concerns that he was 'starving' and not being supported by his mother him after he shared a message about leaving his mother's home.
Madonna’s son David Banda clarified Sunday that he’s “good” and not “living on the streets” after he alarmed his 53,000 Instagram followers by saying that he had been “scavenging” for food since moving out of his mega-star mother’s lavish Upper East Side apartment.
“I am very happy in my life and I am not living out on the streets, starving!” the 18-year-old wrote on his Instagram Story Sunday.
“Please stop worrying everything is good,” Banda also said.
Banda furthermore explained that his very rich and famous mother has always been “very supportive” of him and his decisions, which include moving to the Bronx with his girlfriend and making money by teaching guitar lessons, Page Six reported.
But Banda had presented a somewhat alarming picture of his situation over the weekend, when he said on Instagram Live that he was struggling to make ends meet, Page Six reported.
“It’s lovely to experience it being nine o’clock at night, me being hungry and realizing that I don’t have enough money to get food and scavenging,” Banda said. “It’s fun to be young.”’
Banda also revealed that he was living with his girlfriend, model Maria Atuesta, in the Bronx, Page Six reported. “I love it,” he said. “I’m not on my own. … But I love it.”
Banda is the third of Madonna’s six children. She and her ex-husband Guy Ritchie found him in an orphanage in Malawi in in 2006, People reported. He was 1 at the time, and the couple moved to adopt him, though they faced legal hurdles and controversy because they didn’t meet certain Malawian residency requirements for an adoption.
Nonetheless, the adoption was approved in 2008. Madonna has since said that he’s the child with whom she has the most in common, People reported. She told British Vogue in 2019: “I feel like he gets me; he has more of my DNA than any of my children so far.”
Banda also has been regularly included in Madonna’s performances, showing off his dance moves and comedy, People reported. She has also praised his sense of style, telling Jimmy Fallon in 2022, “He can put on any outfit and look swag as you know what. It’s really irritating. He wears my clothes and looks better in them. He can even wear a dress and look butch.”
Madonna expressed more pride in Banda when he turned 18, throwing him a lavish birthday party and saying on Instagram, “You are growing into a truly remarkable human being! We are all so proud or you!” she wrote on Instagram. “You light up like the brightest star!”
Banda had joined his five siblings in being by their mother’s side when she suffered a near-fatal bacterial infection in 2023, which resulted in the “Vogue” singer being intubated in the ICU and delaying the start of her “Celebration” tour.