Rocco Ritchie will be staying in London with his father Guy, after the Sherlock Holmes director and ex-wife Madonna reached a settlement in their bitter custody dispute.
A lawyer for Guy announced the news, revealing that “the case is settled and everyone agrees that Rocco’s needs changed”.
“He’s going to be living with dad. Everyone’s agreed to that and there’s no further need for any kind of a court case,” he said, according to Page Six.
Madonna and Guy reportedly reached the settlement just a few hours before they were due to appear in court over the matter.
While the exact terms and conditions of their agreement have not been released publicly, The Daily Mail reports Rocco will continue to attend school in London while receiving regular visits from mum Madonna.
The battle over their teenage son began last year, after Madonna and Rocco reportedly had a falling-out during her world tour. After the UK leg of the tour finished up, Rocco remained in London with his father and refused to return to the US for the Christmas holidays, sparking a court battle between his parents in both New York and London.
Madonna and Guy have now reached a settlement over their son Rocco.
In December, a New York judge ruled that Rocco should return to his mother, but decided against issuing a warrant that would enforce this. The 16-year-old stayed with Guy and eventually enrolled in a London school, while the dispute between Guy and Madonna raged on.
At an earlier hearing in Manhattan, State Supreme Court Justice Deborah Kaplan had strong words for the two.
“No one is disrupting his household other than the inability of the parents to reach a resolution. If they cannot resolve this matter then eventually the court will,” she said at the time.
Madonna had been battling her ex-husband in court over Rocco’s living arrangements, but the dispute is now over.
In recent months, Madonna and Rocco seemed to have mended their rift, with the teen making a reappearance on his mother’s social media feed.
Madonna also took him along on a special family bonding trip to Malawi in Africa, the birthplace of his siblings David and Mercy. She also spared no expense for his 16th birthday in August, reportedly arranging for a private jet to transport Rocco and his friends to New York for a celebration.
However, just a few hours after the custody agreement made news, Madonna took to Instagram to post a cryptic photo.
“Because sometimes soccer Mom’s need to be a ……” she wrote, alongside a photo of herself with the word ‘b—-‘ scrawled across the top in red.
