LIZ SMITH on MADONNA....

On Wednesday my phone rang off the hook. Everybody wanted to know what I thought about Madonna and Guy Ritchie splitting up; and why is the media still interested in her? (I love it when even the press asks the press why we are all covering something.) Well, of course there is the normal interest in celeb bad news. But no matter how often the media says, “She’s over,” she’s not. Madonna is still, all in all, THE global celebrity after a quarter century in the spotlight. (Angelina Jolie, no matter how fabulous, is part of a golden couple. Madonna and Guy Ritchie were never that — it was always all about her. Which was, for sure, part of their problem.)People only think they know about Madonna. Exposing her body never meant exposing her soul — and she hasn’t. Madonna has actually remained singularly private about her private life. She tells exactly what she wants and how she wants to tell it. She won’t beg the media or her audience for love and understanding. Take her or leave her. This resistance to public vulnerability works against Madonna sometimes — she was truly stunned when she adopted little David Banda from Malawi and her charity efforts were questioned. But her strength, her refusal to cop a plea is what the fans love. And hate!As to this situation with Guy Ritchie; they both tried hard. But I think Madonna tried harder — really! Still, she’s not going to adopt a victim pose, even if she feels she’s been done wrong. The press wants to see her brought low, have some emotional breakdown. Because that’s what the press wants from all celebrities — they give, they take, they “forgive” and give back, expecting gratitude. Madonna is not like other celebrities! (Go shove your forgiveness.) For all Madonna’s reputation as a media manipulator, it always struck me that she kept her wedding private. No press. She didn’t sell photos, not even for charity. She took those vows seriously, as she did when she married Sean Penn. Divorce is a big thing to her; that vestige of childhood Catholicism. She is not sanguine about the end of her marriage. There was no pre-nup. She was really sure this was it — her soul mate!The future? She’s only 50— in her prime. She won’t be singing the old torch song, “I’m Through With Love.” And she won’t care if we don’t approve of who she loves next.

P.S. I do have a very sweet Guy Ritchie-related memory of Madonna. I interviewed her in London years ago. She was not married to Guy, though she was pregnant with their son, Rocco, a fact she did not disclose. (Well, she’d given me the world exclusive on her first pregnancy, so I couldn’t really complain.) I noticed, scotch-taped to her computer, a little photo of Guy Ritchie. I knew they’d been dating. “So, is this serious?” I asked. Madonna hesitated and then replied, like a schoolgirl, “Well, yes … I guess you could call him my boyfriend.” Adorable. But that was then. - LIZ SMITH, NY POST