Guy Ritchie Blasts Madonna’s ‘Counterproductive’ Parenting Style In Wake Of Custody Battle

Guy Ritchie is currently in the middle of a custody battle with his ex-wife Madonna over their teenage son Rocco. Currently, multiple reports say that Rocco wants to stay with his father.

Now, according to People magazine, Ritchie is bashing Madonna over her stern parenting style. While many reports have said that Rocco finds his mother too controlling, as any teenage son might say of their mother, this is the first time that we’re hearing Ritchie might be backing up these claims.

A source said that Ritchie thinks Madonna’s stern parenting style is “counterproductive.” The source went on to say that Guy Ritchie wants his son Rocco to have confidence, which is what he lacked growing up. “The welfare of Rocco is Guy’s priority,” says the source, of the director’s mindset. As some might know, Guy grew up with severe dyslexia as a child and didn’t have self esteem because of it as well as switching through 10 schools.

Reports state that Rocco left his mother in December after traveling with her around the world while she was on her Rebel Heart tour. Now, Rocco lives with his father in the U.K. It’s said that the teen had refused to come back home to live with his mother during the holidays. The custody battle happened prior to Christmas, as Madonna appeared in a New York courtroom on December 23. At the time, a judge ordered Rocco to return to New York in the interim while Guy and Madonna figure out the rest of his living arrangements.

A source said, “Madonna is quite firm with Rocco and she took his phone from him when it interfered with his studies. She is stricter than Guy and Rocco doesn’t like it. When she took the phone away, it pushed him over the edge.”

There’s been many hypotheticals surrounding why Madonna and Ritchie’s son Rocco refuses to return home to the States. In TheInquisitr’s latest report, it’s said that Madonna’s old flame Sean Penn, who she has reportedly reunited with, might play a role in this custody battle.

Radar Online reported via a source, “Madonna loves Sean as much as she did when they first met. They are together. That’s why Rocco left.”

While Penn and Madonna haven’t really answered the question on whether or not they reconciled, there’s definitely some sort of affection in the air, which didn’t exist or wasn’t known until recently. At a gala for Haiti, Madonna attended with Penn, and the two were seen looking very affectionate and even walked the red carpet together. Penn even posed with Madonna’s other two children, David and Mercy.

During the night Madonna took to the stage to sing “La Vie En Rose” while on a ukulele. Madonna said to Penn from the stage, “I want to say Sean, I love you, from the moment that I laid eyes on you. I just wish you’d stop smoking cigarettes.”

As for Madonna’s estranged relationship with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie, a source told People magazine the following.

“This is far beyond a situation about Rocco – it’s about a situation between Madonna and Guy. They don’t have a good relationship; it’s more of a power fight between them and if he can one-up her. This is the best way he can do it.”

Madonna has been documenting her love for her son, Rocco, and her fight to gain custody. In a recent Instagram post, she captioned the image below.

It’s believed that her son is blocking her on the popular social media site.

[Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images]