Remembering the rumored fling between Alex Rodriguez and Madonna

The formers Yankee star, who was married to Cynthia Scurtis, was romantically linked to Madonna, who was married to Guy Ritchie, in 2008. During this time, A-Rod’s life was a little rocky, with stories of a crumbling marriage and rumors that he was taking performance-enhancing drugs. But his marriage reportedly ended once rumors began swirling that he was with the Grammy-winning singer. Once they swirled enough times, Scurtis reportedly left.

A-Rod attended Madonna’s evening to benefit benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF in February 2008.

On June 22, Madonna sat in his seat with her kids at a Yankees game.By July, a source claimed he was making visits alone to her apartment and would stay as late as midnight. “All the doormen are talking,” a source told US Weekly, per DailyMail. Needless to say, the rumors spread like wildfire. The original article published by US Weekly has seemingly been removed from the internet. That same month fans held pictures of Madonna’s face up at a game.

“The embarrassment over Madonna was the last straw,” a source told People magazine at the time. “She flew to Paris to get out of town before everything blew up between them.” At this time there were reports that Curtis was seeing Lenny Kravitz, which the source denied. “There is no affair with Lenny Kravitz. They are good friends,” they said. Kravitz’s team also denied it.

In an interview with the New York Post, Rodriguez’s former trainer Dodd Romero and godfather to the couple’s daughters believed the split was also due to Madonna. “He’s more infatuated with the fact he’s with an icon instead of realizing what’s important, which is family and truth,” said Romero.

Amid the rumors, Madonna’s rep told PEOPLE: “Madonna and Alex have the same manager, Guy Oseary. They have met,” they said. A-Rod teamed up with her manager in December 2007, which some found weird on its own because he didn’t really have sports experience. “They know each other, and Madonna took her kids to a Yankees game last week. There’s really not anything to comment on beyond that,” her rep continued.

On November 26, A-Rod kept the rumors swirling attending her “Sticky & Sweet” tour at Dolphins Stadium.

By December 2008, A-Rod finally addressed the rumors himself telling PEOPLE, they are just friends. “We’re friends – that’s it.” By this point, there were also rumors that they were flying around the country to spend time together on the DL.

“I have never been on a plane with her,” A-Rod said. He also laughed off the rumors, “I’ve been to two [of her] concerts, yet I’ve read that I went to 20. I’ve also read that we were buying an apartment together.” “That is absolutely ridiculous and not true,” he added.