"I better hurry and tell all the ladies in the world what my penis thinks of them, so they can base their self-worth around it! You're welcome, ladies."

As someone who has a deeply troubled alcoholic brother who spent years emotionally manipulating me, threatening suicide to get money, etc, etc, until the point I had to cut off all contact - thank you. It's so hard but at some point you have to cut ties if the person is unwilling or unable to get healthy (or even in…

Plus, when it comes to Madonna and her brother, the narrative always seems to be framed around the idea that she can somehow fix his problems because she has tons of money (and is therefor an evil bitch who hasn't used her money to do so yet). Addiction cannot be wiped away just because you millions of dollars.

I posted this, too. I know I read she had put significant resources behind him previously, but was done trying to help someone who just will not help himself.

I had read previously that she put him through several rounds of rehab. It's not like she refused to help from the get-go.

You aren't wrong. Attempting to help a person that doesn't want your help or isn't ready for your help could eventually drag you down. I went through many rounds with a father that had a drinking problem - eventually had to kick him out because he refused to work on himself... Regardless of my attempts to taking him…

Yes. I have a homeless nephew. Every member of the family has tried to take him in, but he refused to follow basic rules (like, you must take a shower). People have gotten him jobs and within the first week he stops showing up. At a certain point you just have to step back. When he is ready for help we will be…

Try as much as you like, but you can't help everyone. A lot of people say that they didn't choose their lifestyle, but they most certainly chose the path that led to it.

I have a similar situation in my family. Every time we help my brother out, he just does something else more terrible. Every opportunity we find for him, he makes absolutely certain to burn those bridges, raze the fields, and salt the earth. Love doesn't mean rescuing someone from the logical, predictable consequences…

tru dat. my brothers and i have finally stopped enabling my brother. Doesn't mean we've stopped loving him , we just can't let his awful life choices destroy ours anymore

Agree. I think Madonna's getting shit because she's so wealthy and everyone thinks her money should be able to solve the brother's problems. If this was an average family with a sibling with mental and drug/alcohol dependency problems, and the siblings declared, "we've done all we can, enough is enough", no one would…

Exactly. And the fact that she has tons of money doesn't mean that she can actually help him. Some people are beyond all the help money can buy.

Is this the end times? I think it must be, if I feel like taking up for Madonna.

"How can we help our alcoholic son?" "Hey, let's bring him to our winery!"

Yeah, and even if she set up some barriers so she was giving him money but not having a personal relationship with him, there are ways to hurt her. Since she's famous, it could be spreading rumors to the press or things like that.

And we have no idea what the family has tried in the past. I'm not going to judge her on this one.

And really—the sister who seems to be enabling him is the good guy here? When did we start doing that?

You can't "fix" people without their full participation.

Agreed. My sister has been to rehab three times (paid for by us), we've helped her pay rent and pay her car payments and helped her get a job and it's never enough.