Madonna has split from her model lover Andrew Darnell — contributing to the singer’s “crisis of confidence.”
The 64-year-old and Darnell, 23, have called time on their relationship and he has found romance with someone closer to his own age, a source has told Page Six.
The pair met on a photoshoot soon after Madonna split last year from 28-year-old Ahlamalik Williams, the back-up dancer with whom she had a three-year relationship.
“It was only a very casual thing [with Darnell] so she’s not broken-hearted. It’s just that it has come at a bad time,’ said the source. “She’s having a bit of a crisis of confidence and this doesn’t help. She had a lot of fun with Andrew but it was never love or anything like that.
Page Six has reached out to a representative for Madonna.
The news comes just a few weeks after Madonna reacted furiously to buzz about her puffy-faced look at the Grammy Awards. She claimed the photographs, which sparked speculation about whether she’d had too much plastic surgery, were the actually the result of a long-lens camera distorting her face, and said questions about her appearance were fueled by “ageism” and “misogyny.”
Earlier this week the singer posted a new photograph of herself on Instagram, cryptically saying: “Look how cute i am now that swelling from surgery has gone down. Lol.”
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But while the mother-of-six is putting on a brave front, the source said that talk about her look wasn’t the only thing to upset Madonna at the Grammys on February 5.
“She said no one cared that she was in the room, and it used to be so different for her,” said the source. “She’s never been out of favor for so long.”
The singer, who last had a Billboard Top 10 hit in 2005 with “Hung Up,” was also forced to shelve plans for an eagerly-awaited biopic earlier this year after a fallout with Universal Pictures over the script.
According to sources, she was furious when the studio wanted to lighten up the “gritty” script about her early life.
Madonna is famous for constantly reinventing herself and the source said she still intends to make the most of 2023 — the 40th anniversary of her first big hit, “Holiday” — with her 35-city “Celebration” tour, which has already sold out many dates.
“She’s throwing herself into the tour and is determined that not only will it be brilliant, but it will also thrust her back into the limelight,” said the source. “She’s the queen of pop … and she wants to remind everyone what a star she is.”
