Madonna Denies Divorce, Puts A-Rod in a Trance?

Madonna squashes all the rumors while more gossip swirls about her influence on Alex Rodriguez

By Jovie Baclayon Jul 06, 2008 8:00 PMTags
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Deny, deny, deny!

Never one to shy away from controversy, Madonna issued the mother of all denials on Sunday, quashing rumors of an affair with Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez, refuting claims that she converted him to Kabbalah and denying plans to divorce her husband of seven years, Guy Ritchie.

"My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce. I know Alex Rodriguez through Guy Oseary, who manages both of us. I brought my kids to a Yankee game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez. I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study,” Madonna said in a statement to People.

Earlier in the week, her publicist also denied talks of a split.

On Saturday, the 49-year-old musician, her husband and their three children —Lourdes, 11, Rocco, 7, and David, 2—were seen attending prayer services at the Kabbalah Centre in New York City.

Meanwhile, the baseball star's former trainer and friend told the New York Post on Sunday that A-Rod is "totally brainwashed" by Kabbalah, which the trainer says contributed to the demise of Rodriguez's five-year marriage to wife Cynthia.

"Alex, God bless him, is lost," says Dodd Romero, who is godfather to Rodriguez's two daughters. "I think he got pulled in by the dark side, if you can say that nicely. He's totally brainwashed."

He also said the baseball star only listens to Madonna music in the car and goes "into a trance" when her music videos play at the gym.

Dodd spent time with Cynthia in Paris last week, where she reportedly fled after news of the split broke. Dodd says cutting ties with A-Rod shortly after Cynthia gave birth to their second daughter in late April was "one of the hardest things I've had to do, because he's like a brother to me."