Hard Times for Alex Rodriguez
Hard Times for Alex Rodriguez
As previously reported by the , Alex Rodriguez has been rumored to be romantically linked to Madonna . But that’s just the beginning of his woes.
According to recent reports, A-Rod’s wife Cynthia Rodriguez has run off with rocker Lenny Kravitz. But the “Are You Gonna Go My Way” singer says it isn’t so.
Kravitz released a statement earlier today in which he insists, “There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself. This is unequivocally 100 percent not true.”
Instead, he says, she’s just hanging out with him as a friend. “Cynthia is a friend and is here with the godfather of her baby, who is also Alex’s trainer, his wife and their baby girl. She came here to escape from everything happening in New York City. I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer.”
Nevertheless, the Yankees player’s marriage is reportedly over, according to the New York Daily News. Stay tuned to the for further details as they develop.
Kravitz Joins Madonna in Ramming A-Rod Rumors
What a tangled web we weave when first we talk about Madonna’s men.
While the Queen of Pop, fresh off a happy and photo op-ready reunion with hubby Guy Ritchie, already took pains to disavow anything more than a platonic relationship between herself and Yankee star Alex Rodriguez, a blast from Madge’s past is joining in the denial act, this time concerning a rumored relationship with Rodriguez’s suddenly estranged wife.
“There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself,” Lenny Kravitz said in a statement today. “This is unequivocally 100 percent not true.”
The denial comes in the wake of a story in the New York Post claiming the fairer Rodriguez had no problem going Kravitz’s way and that the duo had spent the past four days getting cozy in Paris.
Cynthia is a friend and is here with Alex’s trainer [her baby’s godfather], his wife and their baby girl. She came here to escape from everything happening in New York City,” said Kravitz.
“I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extrememly hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer.”
It was reported by the New York Daily News this week that the Rodriguezes separated after five and a half years of marriage, and just three months after the birth of their second daughter.
As is the way with the pop-culture universe, all roads still manage to lead back to Madonna: She and Kravitz were rumored to be an item in the early ’90s, when the rocker wrote and produced her single, “Justify My Love.”
Uma Ready for New Groom-a
It looks like the Bride will be giving the altar another shot.
Uma Thurman has gotten engaged to her Swiss financier beau, Arpad “Arki” Busson, her rep confirmed to the New York Daily News.
The newspaper, which was the first to break the news of the betrothal, quoted a friend of the Kill Bill star saying Busson popped the question in London this week while they were in town for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday bash, surprising Thurman with a diamond ring so big “she can’t fit it through the sleeve of her coat.”
Thurman reportedly flashed the rock for the first time at Elton John’s British manor house for his 10th Annual White Tie and Tiara benefit.
No word yet on when Thurman and Busson plan to swap vows.
This will be the 38-year-old Oscar nominee’s third stab at holy matrimony. She was briefly married to Gary Oldman from 1990 to 1992 and then to her Gattaca costar Ethan Hawke from 1998 to 2004, a union that produced two children, Levon and Maya, and plenty of tabloid fodder.
Thurman had a three-year relationship with hotel magnate André Balazs before hooking up with Busson last year. The multimillionaire moneyman from Switzerland swept Thurman off her feet at a dinner in Milan and has been by her side ever since, including during last month’s courtroom showdown between the actress and her stalker.
Busson is no stranger to the sirens’ call, having previously been engaged to Aussie supermodel Elle “The Body” Macpherson, a relationship that produced two kids. They split in 2005 before tying the knot.
Let’s hope things work out better this time around.
Hathaway Ex Busted for Big Business Blunder
UPDATE: During a hearing Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge ordered that Raffaello Follieri be held on $21 million bail on charges of bilking investors out of between $2.5 million and $6 million by pretending to be a real estate point man for the Vatican.
“In short, your honor, he is a con man,” U.S. Attorney Reed Michael Brodsky said in court. “He was able to con a lot of people out of a lot of money over a long period of time.”
Meanwhile, a rep for Follieri told the New York Daily News that he is planning to “vigorously” defend himself against the charges.____________________________________
It’s probably safe to say that Anne Hathaway’s ex-boyfriend isn’t having the best week ever.
Just one week after News confirmed that he and the Get Smart star parted ways after four years togetherin the nick of time, as it turns out for herItalian businessman Raffaello Follieri has been arrested in Manhattan on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
Follieri allegedly padded his résumé a bit too liberally. He’s accused of telling an investor that no less an institution than the Vatican had appointed him its chief financial officer.
It hadn’t.
According to prosecutors, the newly single businessman claimed the holy connection in order to purchase U.S. properties owned by the Catholic church at a discounted rate.
Unfortunately for him, it’s not the first time the 29-year-old has had a run-in with the law.
Last week, News learned that a default judgment had been filed against the businessman after he failed to pay American Express Bank $499,100.21, with interest dating back to last September.
Earlier this month it was also revealed the entrepreneur was under investigation by the New York State Attorney General after it was discovered he failed to file the requisite IRS tax disclosure forms for his charitable Follieri Foundation.
He was also arrested back in April, when he allegedly bounced a $215,000 check to a business associate. But that charge was eventually dropped.
Maybe Follieri should’ve paid a few more visits to the set of Get Smart. Then maybe he would have gotten it himself.
Originally published Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. PT