Madonna with new son DavidMadonna has admitted that she was deeply hurt by the media criticism of her adoption of a baby boy from Malawi - not just because of how it criticised her but because how it highlighted “our inability to focus on the real problems” in the world.

In an interview airing on Today and Dateline NBC, she said: “When I had my daughter, people accused me that I did it as a publicity stunt. I expected that. I didn’t expect to be accused of kidnapping, or of doing something illegal. I didn’t expect to be demonized.”

“With all the chaos, pain and suffering in the world, the fact that my adoption of a child …who was living in an orphanage, you know, was the number one story for a week in the world. To me, that says more about what…our inability to focus on the real problems. And our desire to have distractions and to be consumed with people’s personal lives and gossip.”

She also confirmed that baby David will wear a piece of red Kabbalah string around his wrist but that he will be free to choose his own religion to follow when he grows up: “Yes, he does [wear the string]. I believe in Jesus and I study Kabbalah so I don’t see why he can’t too. The essence of the Kabbalah is the teachings of Jesus. You know, love your neighbor as yourself. If David decides he wants to be a Christian, then so be it. Studying Kabbalah doesn’t mean you can’t be a Christian or a Buddhist or a Muslim or a Jew or whatever.”