CNN: Pop star Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie are to divorce, Madonna’s UK spokeswoman, Moira Bellas, confirmed to CNN. A statement e-mailed to The Associated Press from Madonna spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg says the couple has agreed to divorce, and asks the media to respect their privacy. The statement, co-signed by Ritchie’s representative, says the couple had not agreed to a settlement. Ritchie, 40, and Madonna married seven years ago at a lavish ceremony in Scotland, but rumors have been circulating in the press recently that their relationship was increasingly under strain. Earlier this year, the singer denied being involved romantically with New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez was eventually divorced from his wife. The last time the couple was seen together in public was in September, when Madonna took a break from touring to celebrate her husband’s birthday at a London pub. A recent escalation in rows led to Madonna and Ritchie communicating via their personal assistants, The Sun reported. “Despite huge attempts to patch things up they both know deep down that divorce was on the cards. It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when,” The Sun, quoting a source, reported. MORE
THE ENVELOPE: She didn’t make these handgun high heels. Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld did and he calls them “Miami Vice.” But Madonna did wear Chanel sharp-shooters to this week’s premiere of her new film, “Filth and Wisdom,” in New York. Is there no publicity stunt so low that Madonna will not stoop right to it? Madge is already getting reamed by a UK victims’ group for wearing the trendsetting gun shoes. Lynn Costello, from Mothers Against Murder And Aggression, said in a statement released this week: “I am horrified that Madonna can see these shoes as fashion. As a mother herself I would have thought that she would have paused for a second and thought about all the young people here and in her own country that have died because of gun crime. She should have thought about all the young people that have died because of gun crime. We need the whole of society to take responsibility and action in stopping the glamorization of weapons. Celebrities have a massive part to play and an icon like Madonna should have more sense. It’s uncaring. Surely she reads the news and realizes that young people are dying every day.” In her defense, Madonna joked at the event that her shoes weren’t loaded. MORE
FOX: The two, who split in July after five years, are reportedly back together — less than a month after Silverman 
won an Emmy for her Internet hit, “I’m F——— Matt Damon,” which first aired on Kimmel’s late-night talk show. “They’re taking it slow,” a source told People magazine. “They’re on the road back to being together.” But, in an interview with the New York Times published on Tuesday and during a Tuesday appearance on “The View,” Silverman played coy about defining their relationship. “There is no weirdness with us,” she told the newspaper, declining not to elaborate further. “We talk every day. It’s fine, it’s great.” During the 37-year-old’s acceptance speech at the Emmy last month, Silverman publicly acknowledged Kimmel. “”Thanks to the person for whom this whole video was made: Jimmy Kimmel, who broke my heart — ohh, who’ll always have a place in my heart,” she said. MORE