Writing about family secrets has always been a death sentence for celebrity family ties. Britney Spears is allegedly still outraged about Mama Spears’s book coming out later this year. Jennifer Aniston is supposedly still distant from her mom because she spoke to the press years ago, and the same goes for Angelina Jolie and her dad, Jon Voigt.
Now it’s Christopher Ciccone’s turn to paint an unflattering portrait of his big sis Madonna. His memoir, ” My Life With My Sister Madonna,” hits stores today. Ciccone worked for Madonna for several years on her tours as well as designed her homes and even stayed in the same house with her during her early days of stardom. Though he hasn’t had a relationship with her since 2003, when they had a fight and Madonna fired him, this hasn’t stopped Ciccone from giving us the dirt on Madonna’s marriage, Kabbalah, and everything in between.

Ciccone says he believes Kabbalah is helping the couple’s troubled marriage and that Madonna will stay in the marriage for the children. He also states he believes her greatest love is for herself and that Kabbalah feeds into that narcissism because she is treated like a rock star in the Kabbalah world.
If Madonna is a narcissist, who isn’t really concerned with finding enlightenment, well, Guy Ritchie doesn’t come off much better in the book. Ciccone– who is openly gay– describes Ritchie as homophobic and unpleasant.
I don’t doubt most of what Ciccone is saying about the very insulated world of one of our culture’s major icons, but in these situations, there’s always the question of motive. What is a book like this going to accomplish other than lining Ciccone’s wallet and getting him an upcoming appearance on a talk show?
Family is still family, after all, and you never know when you will need them–no matter how screwed up they might be at the moment. And let’s not forget Ciccone’s niece and nephews. Even if he is mad at his sister, doesn’t he want to be a good uncle and shelter them from more garbage about mom and dad?