Madonna's frostbitten, homeless brother: 'My family turned their back on me'

By Liz Kelly Nelson Zap2it

3:39 p.m. PDT, October 22, 2011

Anthony Ciccone, 55, is one of many homeless people flocking to Michigan's Traverse City. We're guessing, though, that he's the only one who can claim pop superstar Madonna as a sister.

Ciccone tells The Michigan Messenger that he's been on the street for a year-and-a-half since losing a job at his father's vineyard (which does in fact market a bottle called "Madonna Wine").

"My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time," he tells the newspaper. "You think I haven't answered this kind of question a bazillion times -- why my sister is a multibazillionaire, and I'm homeless on the street?"

He never does quite explain what led him to financial destitution, but holds forth on some of the more difficult aspects of street life:

"If you spend enough time on frozen concrete without proper insulation you will get frostbite, he says. "You have no idea how gruesome it is. You get nerve damage. That's the milder stage, in the severe stage you have tissue damage, that is when you lose parts of your body.

He  continues: "I got frostbite on my feet last winter. A friend of mine lost all ten toes. Several have died of hypothermia."

In 2008, brother Christopher Ciccone released a tell-all book about his sister, the unambiguously named "Life With My Sister Madonna."

Seems to us that Anthony just needs to figure out a Madge-related product to market. Perhaps he can draw some inspiration from John Lennon's former housekeeper?