Madonna thanks exes Sean Penn, Guy Ritchie for creative support

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Madonna has descended upon the Venice International Film Festival with her second directorial effort, ‘W.E.,’ about parallel love stories centering around the famous romance between American divorcee Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII.

Invoking her own love stories, the 53-year-old entertainer appeared to be making this her ‘No Hard Feelings’ tour, talking about ex-husbands Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie with surprising candor and positivity.

Seriously.

‘I am and was attracted to very creative people which is why I married Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie, two very talented directors,’ she said at the festival. ‘They both encouraged me as a director and as a creative person to do what I did, and they were both very supportive.’

We applaud the maturity in Madonna’s sentiments (seems like hanging out with younger friends agrees with her).

Madonna said she identified with the stylish but prickly Simpson -- a woman the king found more irresistible than the throne, which he abdicated in order to marry her in 1936 -- from the point of being a public figure or celebrity.

‘We are often reduced to a soundbite and ... you’re given a few attributes and then you’re not allowed to have anything more than that,’ she said.

New to Simpson’s famous style? Check out this video from Vanity Fair’s profiles of the world’s best dressed women.

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-- Matt Donnelly
twitter.com/MattDonnelly

Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.

/ Reuters