Jul 7, 2008 6:57 pm US/Eastern
Ex-Rod: All-Star's Wife Files For Divorce
Alleged Affair With Madonna Was 'Final Straw' For Cynthia Rodriguez
MIAMI (CBS) ―
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Cynthia and Alex Rodriguez are officially on the outs. (File)
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
He may be an All-Star on the field, but Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is being pegged as an all-sleaze by his wife, who filed for divorce on Monday morning.
Cynthia Rodriguez, who married the slugger in 2002, filed papers in a Miami court, saying her husband has "emotionally abandoned his wife and children and has left her no choice but to divorce him." She hired lawyer Earle Lilly to take the Yankees' $275 million cleanup hitter to the cleaners.
The reported sexcapade with pop icon Madonna was the final insult. According to Cynthia, her husband's "extra marital affairs and other marital misconduct" were cited as the reason their marriage was broken.
"The last straw was the relationship. A lot of people have talked to me about sexual infidelity. He has dismally failed to keep the marital vows intact," Lilly told CBS 2HD on the phone.
It's turning into a real bench-clearing brawl with A-Rod's high-priced legal team also filing for divorce in Miami, blaming the wife for the marital break-up because of her reluctance to reconcile, while the siren at the center of it all says she had no role at all.
In a statement to People Magazine, Madonna responded to the alleged affair by saying, "I brought my kids to a Yankees game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez. I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage."
The "Justify My Love" singer also said she was "not planning on getting a divorce" from her husband of seven years, Guy Ritchie, while also denying she used Kaballah to brainwash the slugger into believing they are soul mates.
Cynthia Rodriguez was also rumored to have had a romantic rendezvous with rocker Lenny Kravitz in Paris, but Kravitz denied any such affair.
"I like A-Rod. I don't care what he does," fan Michelle Steiner said.
"I don't think he ever cheated on his wife. I think that Madonna is his friend," another fan, Rudy Padilla, said.
Cynthia Rodriguez meanwhile is now saying her husband has only seen their 3-month-old baby Ella two or three times. She is seeking primary custody of the couple's two children.
A-Rod's colossal earnings as an athlete and endorser -- more than $450 million from baseball alone -- will also be contested, as will the couple's multi-million-dollar houses in Miami and Manhattan.
Rodriguez was named to his 12th All-Star team on Sunday. Neither he nor Madonna commented to CBS 2 on Monday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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