Scoop

Madonna Falls off her Horse

Madge's injuries weren't her only troubles this weekend...

-Betty Editors

Madonna fell from a horse this weekend when she was riding at photographer Steven Klein's farm in the Hamptons. The Material Mama was tossed to the ground when her mount was startled by a paparazzi who jumped out of the bushes to photograph the superstar. Her boy toy, Jesus Luz, and others witnessed Madonna's fall. She was taken to Southampton Hospital where her bruises were treated. She is recuperating at gal pal Gwyneth Paltrow's nearby estate.

Madge fell once before in 2005 when she was riding at her estate in England. At that time she broke her collarbone and three ribs. She called the fall "the most painful experience of my life." And, in her divorce proceedings against her British husband, director Guy Ritchie, she clamed he showed "a complete lack of love and sympathy" after the fall.

A rocky ride was not Madonna's only problem this past weekend. In Malawi, the father of Mercy, the little girl she wants to adopt, is complaining. He says that Madonna aides have taken the child away to an elite resort. According to relatives, Mercy is being looked after by a nanny at luxury Kumbali Lodge--where Madonna stayed earlier this month, along with her 15-strong entourage.

The child's father is now determined to stop her from being taken out of Malawi. He says: "I don't have money and influence like Madonna, but I do have something that she doesn't. I am the child's flesh and blood." Madonna believed Mercy was an orphan. She first spotted her in 2006 at the orphanage, where she found her adopted son David Banda. A judge denied Madonna's adoption bid, but she is appealing that decision.

This weekend there were also rumors that even though Jesus is still on the scene, he may be replaced by Moses--a millionaire named Abraham Moses Schimmel. Known as Marc to his friends, he is 44, double Luz's age. A source tells News of The World. "Jesus isn't happy about her relationship with Marc, but she enjoys his company.

Both Madonna and Schimmel are divorced with kids and there's a deep spiritual connection that neither of them have ever experienced. Everyone thinks they would be great together. He's been her rock over the breakdown of her adoption in Malawi."

So, with a fall from a horse, two contending boy friends, Jesus and Moses, and a tug-of-love fight in Malawi, Madonna, at 50, is nursing her bruises and still making headlines.