LA court extends Britney Spears' conservatorship

Britney Spears' father will retain control of the pop singer's finances and personal affairs through the end of the year. Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz extended James Spears' conservatorship over his daughter Thursday morning until the end of 2008.

Goetz opened the hearing by saying the singer "reluctantly agreed" to extend the arrangement, and scheduled an update hearing for October.

The pop singer's father assumed control over her personal life and finances earlier this year after a series of high-profile incidents of erratic behavior that twice led to her being hospitalized.

Spears has since shown signs of improvement, settling a custody dispute with Kevin Federline, making successful TV cameos and working on an album this summer.

Neither Spears or her father appeared in court Thursday.

Kelsey Grammer to remain in hospital overnight

Television star Kelsey Grammer, who suffered a recent heart attack, will remain in a New York hospital overnight after checking in earlier on Monday when he was feeling faint, his representative said.

Grammer's spokesman Stan Rosenfield said the 53-year-old actor, who gained fame on TV sitcoms "Cheers" and "Frasier," was taken to the hospital this morning by his wife Camille and he was undergoing tests to determine the cause.

Grammer did not suffer an irregular heartbeat as had been reported by some celebrity media outlets, Rosenfield said.

In late May, Grammer felt chest pains while paddle-boarding with his wife in Hawaii, and he was taken to a hospital where it was determined he had suffered a heart attack. He was released on June 4 after spending four days under care.

The actor has seemed to be in good health in recent days as he has been out promoting his new movie "Swing Vote," about a U.S. presidential election. It hits theaters on Friday.

Grammer gained fame portraying the snooty but lovable psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane for 20 years, first as a supporting player on the NBC comedy hit "Cheers" and then as the star of his own Emmy-winning spinoff series, "Frasier."

His heart attack came three weeks after he learned the Fox network was canceling his latest show, "Back to You," in which he played a pompous, womanizing TV news anchor. The series only made it for one season.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Bob Tourtellotte)

Carmen Electra & Kim Kardashian dazzle comics fans

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The line snaked through the Comic-Con floor. Hundreds of camera-toting fans jockeyed for position, barely able to contain their excitement.

They weren't trying to see the latest world-saving superhero or never-before-seen footage. They were waiting to see Carmen Electra and Kim Kardashian.

The two beauties made their Comic-Con debut Saturday, signing autographs to promote their new film, "Disaster Movie." Both wore formfitting, cleavage-bearing dresses as they posed for fans' photos.

For 18-year-old John Kilgore, attending the signing was the day's top priority.

"It's Carmen Electra," he explained. "What's not to like about a woman like that?"

David Benker, 46, was embarrassed to reveal exactly how excited he was to meet the two women.

"Aw, come on," he said. "My son is here and he'll tell his mom."

Most fans sheepishly shuffled by collecting their posters, but a few were brave enough to talk to the pinup pair.

"You look even more beautiful in person," said one blushing fan. "Wow."

Another whipped out his cell phone to show Electra her own photo. "You're on my screen saver right now," he said.

Despite the frenzy of excitement, the fans were well behaved, Electra said: "They were all really sweet."

A Lionsgate release, "Disaster Movie" — which features a wrestling scene between Kardashian and Electra — hits theaters Aug. 29.

Jon Heder to star in online series

Jon Heder, who starred in "Napoleon Dynamite" and skated opposite Will Ferrell in "Blades of Glory," is venturing into digital entertainment as the star of the zombie comedy "Woke Up Dead."

The scripted online series, created by John Fascano and being produced by Electric Farm Entertainment, centers on a University of Southern California student who wakes up underwater in the bathtub one morning and suspects that he might be dead.

"Dead," which was developed with Heder in mind for the lead, will comprise 50 three-minute episodes for online and mobile distribution in the U.S.

The sci-fi comedy thriller marks an evolution for Electric Farms because it's live-action with limited CGI elements. (Its first online drama, "Afterworld," is a 2.5-D-animated series, while the sci-fi "Gemini Division," starring Rosario Dawson, features elaborate 3-D animated backgrounds.)

Sony Pictures TV International is co-producing and will internationally distribute "Dead" on mobile, broadband and traditional TV.

Heder recently wrapped the feature comedy "When in Rome," which stars Kristen Bell.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Shannen Doherty back in '90210' 'hood this fall

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Brenda Walsh is all grown-up and returning to Beverly Hills, 90210, this fall. But cast members of the new CW spin-off, "90210," are speculating whether Shannen Doherty will be equally mature when she reprises her role as Walsh.

"I have heard some of the stories," "90210" star AnnaLynne McCord said of the sometimes-volatile relationship between Doherty and co-star Jennie Garth on the original series, which aired from 1990-2000.

Garth is returning to her role as Kelly Taylor, now a school guidance counselor, on "90210."

In the new series, Doherty's Walsh is now a famous theater director invited back to West Beverly Hills High School to stage a musical, CW announced Saturday at a Television Critics Association meeting in, of course, Beverly Hills.

Her guest role plays out over multiple episodes, the network said.

"If she and Jennie have it out while I'm there, OK, then, all right, so that's the story," McCord said of any possible discord during production.

"We're co-workers, we're going to be co-stars and I want to treat her (Doherty) with the respect that I would treat any other co-star," said McCord, who played the evil Eden on FX's "Nip/Tuck."

Ryan Eggold, McCord's co-star, is betting the Doherty vibe "will be 100 percent fine for us, for the new kids, because we have no history with her. We have no problems with her and I'm sure she's going to come to this with a wonderful attitude."

Added executive producer Gabe Sachs, "There isn't any tension. No one's been on the set yet but I think they'll be OK," he says of Garth and Doherty. Then he laughed. "I don't think they've gotten together and had dinner yet," he told The Associated Press.

Doherty's publicist did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment Saturday night.

McCord paid Doherty a compliment.

"I love Shannen Doherty. She, from a very young age, had the 'it' factor. Shannen Doherty is the epitome of what a talented young actor was, back in the day," McCord said.

When Doherty left the original series in 1994, Doherty called it a mutual decision with the series' producer and said she was "miserable" working on the show. The young actress had captured headlines with off-screen escapades such as brawls.

Also starring on "90210" is Tori Spelling, daughter of the late "Beverly Hills 90210" creator Aaron Spelling, reprising her role as Donna Martin, now an upscale boutique-owner.

The drama about Beverly Hills angst and affluence premieres Sept. 2.

Jolie and twins slip out of hospital in Nice

PARIS (AP) — Angelina Jolie has left the building. Oh, and so have the twins. Before dawn Saturday, the Hollywood superstar and her newborn twins left the French Riviera hospital where she gave birth a week ago, the hospital said in a statement.

"The mother and her babies are doing very well," reported the Fondation Lenval hospital, located in the southern Mediterranean city of Nice.

Jolie slipped out at 4 a.m. Saturday with the twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, deftly evading most of the paparazzi who have followed the family for months in southern France, ever since Jolie arrived for the Cannes film festival in May. It was not immediately clear if the twins' father, actor Brad Pitt, was with them.

AP Television cameras outside the hospital filmed a large white van with tinted windows leaving one of the hospital's back entrances at that time. No other vehicles left the hospital for the next several hours.

Jolie, 33, checked into the hospital on July 2 and delivered the babies by Cesarian section ten days later. Knox Leon weighed 5.03 pounds and the Vivienne Marcheline 5 pounds.

Jolie's obstetrician, Dr. Michel Sussmann, told reporters after the birth that the 44-year-old Pitt was at Jolie's side during the delivery, which he said had been pushed up from its originally planned date "for medical reasons" so the babies could be born "in the best conditions."

The Jolie-Pitt clan had rented four rooms on the fifth floor of the maternity ward of the Lenval hospital, appropriately located on Nice's beach-front California Avenue. The hospital had treated the mirrored blue windows of Jolie's room, which looked out the Mediterranean, with a special material that blocked telephoto lenses from peering in.

Jolie managed to check into the hospital unobserved, reportedly arriving by helicopter on the hospital's rooftop helipad. That fueled rumors she would also leave the clinic by helicopter,

In its statement, the Fondation Lenval thanked the Jolie-Pitts for choosing its hospital. It also thanked the hospital staff "for the attention and care they paid to the family" and the "journalists around the hospital who did their best to respect their privacy."

The Nice-Matin newspaper has reported that an unnamed U.S. publication has paid $11 million for exclusive rights to the first photos of the Jolie-Pitt twins and that the proceeds will go to charity.

Jolie and Pitt have four other children — Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3; and Shiloh, 2. Before Jolie checked into the hospital in Nice, the family set up a household in Correns, 60 miles away.

Jolie's latest film, the thriller "Wanted" with James McAvoy, has racked up $112 million in its first three weeks in the United States. The action flick — about a secret society of assassins stars Jolie as a gun-toting sexpot — opened last week in France.

The new mother also stars in director Clint Eastwood's "Changeling," a 1930s-era drama about a kidnapping that premiered at Cannes this year. Jolie also did voiceovers for the animated comedy "Kung Fu Panda," which has brought in over $200 million this summer in U.S. ticket sales alone.

Jolie and twins slip out of hospital in Nice

PARIS (AP) — Angelina Jolie has left the building. Oh, and so have the twins. Before dawn Saturday, the Hollywood superstar and her newborn twins left the French Riviera hospital where she gave birth a week ago, the hospital said in a statement.

"The mother and her babies are doing very well," reported the Fondation Lenval hospital, located in the southern Mediterranean city of Nice.

Jolie slipped out at 4 a.m. Saturday with the twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, deftly evading most of the paparazzi who have followed the family for months in southern France, ever since Jolie arrived for the Cannes film festival in May. It was not immediately clear if the twins' father, actor Brad Pitt, was with them.

AP Television cameras outside the hospital filmed a large white van with tinted windows leaving one of the hospital's back entrances at that time. No other vehicles left the hospital for the next several hours.

Jolie, 33, checked into the hospital on July 2 and delivered the babies by Cesarian section ten days later. Knox Leon weighed 5.03 pounds and the Vivienne Marcheline 5 pounds.

Jolie's obstetrician, Dr. Michel Sussmann, told reporters after the birth that the 44-year-old Pitt was at Jolie's side during the delivery, which he said had been pushed up from its originally planned date "for medical reasons" so the babies could be born "in the best conditions."

The Jolie-Pitt clan had rented four rooms on the fifth floor of the maternity ward of the Lenval hospital, appropriately located on Nice's beach-front California Avenue. The hospital had treated the mirrored blue windows of Jolie's room, which looked out the Mediterranean, with a special material that blocked telephoto lenses from peering in.

Jolie managed to check into the hospital unobserved, reportedly arriving by helicopter on the hospital's rooftop helipad. That fueled rumors she would also leave the clinic by helicopter,

In its statement, the Fondation Lenval thanked the Jolie-Pitts for choosing its hospital. It also thanked the hospital staff "for the attention and care they paid to the family" and the "journalists around the hospital who did their best to respect their privacy."

The Nice-Matin newspaper has reported that an unnamed U.S. publication has paid $11 million for exclusive rights to the first photos of the Jolie-Pitt twins and that the proceeds will go to charity.

Jolie and Pitt have four other children — Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3; and Shiloh, 2. Before Jolie checked into the hospital in Nice, the family set up a household in Correns, 60 miles away.

Jolie's latest film, the thriller "Wanted" with James McAvoy, has racked up $112 million in its first three weeks in the United States. The action flick — about a secret society of assassins stars Jolie as a gun-toting sexpot — opened last week in France.

The new mother also stars in director Clint Eastwood's "Changeling," a 1930s-era drama about a kidnapping that premiered at Cannes this year. Jolie also did voiceovers for the animated comedy "Kung Fu Panda," which has brought in over $200 million this summer in U.S. ticket sales alone.

Yusuf Islam wins damages for "veiled women" slur

British folk singer Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, on Friday accepted libel damages and an apology from a news agency which reported he refused to talk to women at an awards ceremony who were not wearing a veil.

The artist, who changed his name after becoming a Muslim in the late 1970s, will donate the "substantial" payout to Small Kindness, a UN-linked charity which he chairs.

Adam Tudor, the singer's solicitor, told London's High Court that the story behind the legal action was published by World Entertainment News Network and was used on Contactmusic.com, a Web site said to have 2.2 million page views a month.

The article appeared in March last year and suggested that the singer was "so sexist and bigoted that he refused at an awards ceremony to speak to or even acknowledge any women who were not wearing a veil," Tudor said.

"It went on to suggest that Mr. Islam's manager had stated 'Mr Islam doesn't speak with women except his wife. Least of all if they don't wear a headscarf. Things like that only happen via an intermediary."'

Tudor said the article had embarrassed the singer, creating a false impression of his attitude to women and also casting serious aspersions on his religious faith.

World Entertainment News Network issued an apology, saying:

"We now accept that these allegations ... are entirely without foundation, and that Mr. Islam has never had any difficulties working with women, whether for religious or for any other reason."

Islam, 59, is still best known for his hits as Cat Stevens, including "Wild World," "Morning Has Broken" and "Moonshadow."

He sold an estimated 60 million albums as Stevens, but retired from showbusiness in 1978 after converting to Islam. He released his first mainstream pop album since then in 2006.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

Vasarely's daughter-in-law charged with art theft

The daughter-in-law of op art pioneer Viktor Vasarely was charged with burglary and theft after being caught removing hundreds of thousands of dollars in art work from a storage facility in Chicago, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Michele Taburno-Vasarely insists that the paintings she tried to take, some by her famous father-in-law, actually belong to her and said she would be vindicated at trial.

"Being indicted doesn't mean one is guilty - not at all, at all, at all," Taburno-Vasarely told AFP after making a brief court appearance.

"It's the entire affair that's important. It's not the very beginning ... Wait for the next chapter."

A copy of the indictment and details of the charges were not immediately available, a spokesman for the Cook County prosecutor's office told AFP.

The burglary charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail while the theft charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years.

Taburno-Vasarely will formally enter a plea at an arraignment scheduled for August 6, he added.

Taburno-Vasarely was discovered trying to move the bubble-wrapped paintings into an adjacent storage unit on July 20.

The gallery owner, Thomas Monahan, said he had been storing thousands of pieces for Taburno-Vasarely but became concerned about their provenance when he heard of an inquiry currently under way in France.

His lawyer advised him to hold onto the works until rightful ownership could be established. Taburno-Vasarely's lawyer said he had no right to do so and accused him of trying to sell the work without permission.

Vasarely's family was awarded custody of much of his work in a 1995 decision that a foundation he established in 1971 is currently trying to overturn.

Nearly all of the 1,300 original works and 18,000 silkscreen prints donated to the foundation have disappeared.

Taburno-Vasarely, who led charge against a foundation director who was eventually convicted of embezzlement for pilfering the collection and stealing its funds, insists that she holds the legal title to all the works in question.

While she would not disclose how many pieces she owned, she laughed at the idea that there were thousands.

"Soon I'll have more works than the artist painted!" she said while awaiting the grand jury's decision.

The diminutive Frenchwoman said her collection contains only those pieces which were given to her by her husband and brother-in-law out of gratitude for her work in uncovering the embezzlement at the foundation.

"The word given and the word stolen are not the same word," she said.

"I arrived (in the United States) with what belonged to me and what belonged to me I put in storage."

Taburno-Vasarely said she was confident that the French inquiry will determine she had rightful ownership of the works and plans to donate them to museums in the United States upon her death.

"Now they're accusing me of stealing paintings from the foundation - it's simply not possible," she said.

"It's to make noise, to defame me, it's to make people believe I'm a thief," she said of the inquiry in France.

"I've stolen nothing. It's very simple. I work with the works. I put them in museums and we all know that when you steal you don't put it in a museum because you'd get caught."

Doctor: Angelina Jolie gives birth to twins

PARIS (AP) — The Brangelina twins are here: Angelina Jolie has given birth to a girl and a boy.

The obstetrician who delivered the twins, Dr. Michel Sussmann, told The Associated Press that the actress, the babies and Jolie's partner, actor Brad Pitt, "are doing marvelously well."

Sussmann said Jolie gave birth to a boy, Knox Leon, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline, by Cesarian section on Saturday night.

He told the AP on Sunday morning that the boy weighed 5.03 pounds and the girl 5 pounds.

Pitt was there during the operation, said the doctor, who delivered the twins at the seaside Lenval hospital in Nice in southern France.

"Everything is going well," said Sussmann. "The mother, the babies, the father are doing marvelously well."

He said the Cesarian was moved forward from its originally planned date "for medical reasons" so that the babies could be born "in the best conditions." Sussman did not give details.

He said Jolie is expected to stay in the hospital for a few more days.

Jolie and Pitt already have four children: Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3, and Shiloh, 2.

Jolie had checked into the hospital late last month to rest and be monitored by her doctor before the birth.

Before that, she, Pitt and their children had moved into a large estate, Miraval, in the French hamlet of Correns, which is just a short helicopter ride from the hospital. Correns is about 60 miles from Nice, a resort on the Mediterranean.

Though the lenses of the world's paparazzi had been trained on maternity wards across the French Riviera, Jolie managed to slip unobserved into the clinic, reportedly arriving by helicopter on the hospital's rooftop helipad.

Pitt was seen coming and going after Jolie's hospitalization became public.

The first photos of the new twins are expected to fetch millions of dollars.

Hollywood power couple ends lawsuit

A Hollywood power couple are ending their lawsuit against a security firm over a break-in at their Bel-Air home.

Attorneys for "The Exorcist" director William Friedkin and former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing petitioned Wednesday for the case's dismissal. The couple blamed Florida-based ADT for botching its response to a burglary at the couple's home in December 2006.

Reasons for the dismissal were not disclosed. A lawyer for the couple said he could not comment on the details, and a lawyer for ADT did not return calls seeking comment.

The couple claimed an ADT patrolman took two hours to respond to an alarm at the house. By then, burglars had "unique and irreplaceable" jewelry, according to the lawsuit.

Friedkin won an Oscar for 1971's "The French Connection." He received an Oscar nomination for "The Exorcist."

Negotiations continue over Verne Troyer sex tape

Lawyers for Verne Troyer are negotiating with a porn broker and distributor on a settlement to try to prevent the distribution of a sex tape the actor made with a former girlfriend.

U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez on Friday granted both sides another week to negotiate before holding a hearing on whether the tape can be sold or released. He also extended a temporary restraining order barring porn distributor SugarDVD from selling or taking orders for the tape, said Tracy Rane, Troyer's attorney.

She said details of the negotiations are private, but that Troyer still doesn't want the tape made public.

"Mr. Troyer is working to prohibit the release of the full tape," Rane said.

The actor sued porn distributor SugarDVD, broker Kevin Blatt and celebrity gossip Web site TMZ for $20 million last month and sought to have release of the tape barred.

He is best-known for his role as Mini Me in two of the "Austin Powers" movies.

Court records do not list attorneys for SugarDVD or Blatt.

Troyer had claimed the sex tape was stolen from his home, but TMZ presented a statement from his ex-girlfriend, Ranae Shrider, saying she took the tape and authorized parts of its release to TMZ.

TMZ aired parts of the tape on its Web site and TV show, prompting Troyer's lawsuit. A statement on SugarDVD's site claimed it was trying to broker a deal for the tape, but that statement has since been removed.

Kidman birth adds to Nashville's image as oasis

Nicole Kidman has described Nashville as a quiet escape, a nice place to raise a garden or grab coffee without photographers in tow.

So it really shouldn't be a surprise that it's also where she and husband Keith Urban chose to have their first child.

"When you look at Nicole and Keith, they seem to be at ease in Nashville. Especially Nicole seems to embrace the city," observed Dina Sansing, entertainment director for Us Weekly magazine.

Kidman, 41, gave birth early Monday to a baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban.

With the couple also owning homes in Los Angeles and Australia, there was speculation about where they'd have the baby.

But in recent weeks as the Oscar-winning actress was spotted attending yoga classes and shopping near her home, it became apparent she intended to stay put. Urban virtually confirmed as much in a Saturday concert here when he dedicated his hit "Better Half" to his "very, very, very, very, very pregnant wife."

"It seems the perfect place to have the child there because they do seem so happy there," Sansing said.

It's ironic that Nashville, the city that Robert Altman poked fun at with his '70s film "Nashville" and that spawned the cornpone TV series "Hee Haw," is being celebrated as laid-back and hip — but perhaps that's what it's come to.

Miley Cyrus, who grew up here, is also filming a movie here. Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Ashley Judd — and, during her brief relationship with Kenny Chesney, Rene Zellweger — either lived here, worked here or spent considerable time here. Ditto for tabloid queen Jessica Simpson and TV's "Dancing with the Stars" champ Julianne Hough. Rock stars Sheryl Crow, Jack White and Kid Rock all own homes here.

"I definitely think it's easier to live as a celebrity in Nashville," said Maureen O'Connor, a publicist with Los Angeles-based Rogers & Cowan. "LA isn't as bad as London, but we do have a lot of paparazzi-type photographers and online media who can torment celebrities to the point that making a law against it has been proposed many times.

"Most of America is an easier place to live as a celebrity. Nashville has the advantage of also being a place that you can do entertainment industry business quite efficiently," O'Connor added.

Indeed, Nashville has been a music center since the 1920s. Stars are largely left alone here when they're out and about. Even in the hours after Kidman's birth, a highly competitive and anticipated international story, the grounds of Baptist Hospital appeared remarkably free of paparazzi.

"When Toby is in New York, it is completely different than in Nashville," observed Elaine Schock, a Los Angeles-based publicist who represents country superstar Toby Keith. "The paparazzi know exactly where he is and where he is going."

But increasingly, Nashville is on the celebrity news radar. And it's not only the influx of non-country celebrities that's generating interest, says Julie Dam, senior editor at People magazine. Contemporary country stars like Chesney, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift have a broader following than most of their counterparts did a generation ago.

"It's definitely become more mainstream. It's not just country fans who are interested anymore. They have a much wider audience," Dam said. "We're doing a lot more country music stories than we had been doing in the past."

Sansing, the Us Weekly editor, says fans want to know everything about their favorite stars, including where and how they live. In that respect, Kidman and Urban have become a huge boon for Nashville.

"They go to Starbucks, and they go to the cafes," Sansing said. "These are not stars that stay in the house and avoid people. They're entrenched in the city and really seem to enjoy it."

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long end relationship

Justin Long and Drew Barrymore have ended their romance, the actor's publicist said Tuesday.

"I just wanted to confirm that, yes, they did break up," Carrie Gordon told The Associated Press in a phone interview, adding that the couple remain friends. Gordon didn't give further details.

Barrymore, 33, and Long, 30, co-star in the movie adaptation of the self-help best-seller "He's Just Not That Into You," slated for release next February.

The split comes as a surprise, given their public displays of affection since they began dating last year.

Long's big-screen credits include "Accepted" and "Dodgeball," and he's also the "Mac guy" in Apple's TV commercials. Barrymore's screen credits include "Fever Pitch," "50 First Dates" and "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial."

The lanky actor seemed smitten with the actress-producer, escorting her to red-carpet events including Madonna and Gucci's "A Night to Benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF" party in New York City in February.

He was in the audience during Barrymore's recent appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show. Beaming, Long gushed: "She's the most compassionate person I've ever met."

"This relationship is great," Barrymore told Winfrey. "It's healthy, it's productive, and it's supportive. It's full of humor and a lot of fun."

Wife of Yankees Alex Rodriguez files for divorce

MIAMI (AP) — A tumultuous week for Alex Rodriguez, played out in tabloid headlines and carried on the whispers of a connection to Madonna, came to a head Monday when his wife filed for divorce.

The more than 5-year marriage collapsed amid reports of a new friendship between the Yankee slugger and the 49-year-old pop singer, an only-in-New York convergence of sport and entertainment celebrity.

Played out in both the sports pages and gossip magazines, the saga appeared to have taken its toll on Cynthia Rodriguez, who said in divorce papers that her husband "emotionally abandoned his wife and children."

"The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband's extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct," according to her petition for dissolution of marriage, filed in the family division of Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.

The New York Yankees third baseman, who earned his 12th All-Star selection Sunday, has refused to comment on any relationship with Madonna.

Rodriguez's attorney in Miami, Ira M. Elegant — who is also representing NBA star Shaquille O'Neal in his ongoing divorce — said he had not reviewed the divorce petition but added: "As you know, anyone can pay the filing fee and make allegations."

Richard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Rodriguez, declined to address to allegations of infidelity, saying that would be brought up in court.

"His priorites are to have a future with his children and be a big part of their lives," Rubenstein said.

Cynthia Rodriguez has asked for primary custody of their two children — Nathasha Alexander, 3, and 2-month-old Ella Alexander — as well as child support and alimony.

Days before the filing, stories linking Rodriguez and Madonna began to surface, including an Us Weekly report last week saying that Rodriguez made several late-night visits to Madonna's apartment in New York.

Madonna, who is married to filmmaker Guy Ritchie, denied any romantic involvement with Rodriguez in a statement Sunday.

"My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce," the statement said. "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.

Rodriguez added some Hollywood glitz to his management team last year when he hired Oseary, who had previously worked with Madonna and Lenny Kravitz. Oseary is not a registered baseball agent, and Rodriguez retained Scott Boras as his representative on baseball matters.

Madonna's statement added that she has "nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study," apparently in reference to reports that the singer had introduced the ballplayer to the form of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah.

Cynthia Rodriguez last week visited the Paris home of Kravitz. The rocker denied anything improper, saying she had come to France to escape the media frenzy in New York and stayed at his home as a friend.

Her lawyer, Maurice Kutner, declined to elaborate on the divorce filing, which does not mention Madonna — or any alleged paramours — by name.

"Cynthia has made it very clear to me that she wants to take the high road and protect her children and herself. There's no vindictiveness here," Kutner said. "She wants to resolve the issues between Alex and herself in an amicable fashion."

The couple, who married in November 2002, has had a prenuptial agreement in place since Oct. 3, 2002, according to the divorce papers.

Because Florida is a no-fault divorce state, extramarital affairs do not factor into how the Rodriguezes' assets might be divided, according to marriage law experts Leon Finkel and David Levy of Oak Park, Ill. That is, unless such affairs are specifically addressed in the prenuptial agreement.

They have a $12 million, six-bedroom house in the upscale Miami suburb of Coral Gables. A company run by a corporation controlled by Rodriguez bought an apartment at Trump Park Avenue in Manhattan for $7.4 million in July 2005.

The divorce petition was filed the day after Rodriguez hit his 536th homer, tying Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for 13th.

The 32-year-old Rodriguez has found himself in the tabloids more than any other Yankee since arriving in New York in 2004. Last year, he was labeled "Stray-Rod" on the front page of the New York Post after being photographed out at night with a former Vegas stripper.

"I think for Alex, he's been through this before, he knows how to handle it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Thursday. "I'm sure there are times he wishes he could just fit in. That's the price you pay.

"Obviously, everyone likes to keep their life private. Unfortunately, in this world, that doesn't happen."

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner didn't seem too concerned when asked if his star player can keep his off-field problems from affecting his play.

"Everybody has personal problems to deal with. Just playing baseball doesn't change that anymore than it does for anybody else," Steinbrenner said at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla. "But I'm sure he'll be fine."

Rodriguez is in the first season of a $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees, a deal that allows him to earn up to $305 million. He made $185.45 million from 2001-7 from his contract with the Texas Rangers and Yankees.

___

Jake Coyle contributed to this story from New York.

Just how close 'friends' are Madonna and A-Rod?

A-Rod and the Material Girl? That's a lot of hits. Reports that Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez and Madonna have become close just as their marriages are disintegrating have both the celebrity gossip industry and the sporting world — each a chatty bunch — buzzing with questions about the two "friends."

A third boldface name was added to the saga when Rodriguez' wife fled from New York to the Paris home of rocker Lenny Kravitz, who denied anything improper had happened with the slugger's wife.

The story began last week amid tabloid stories that Madonna, who is married to the British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, had consulted a high-profile London divorce attorney. On Tuesday her publicist issued a statement saying Madonna's marriage was not in jeopardy. Then US Weekly magazine reported that Rodriguez, 32, has been making late-night visits to the Manhattan apartment of Madonna, 49.

Janice Min, editor-in-chief of Us Weekly, said the magazine was "100 percent" confident in its story, which she said was based on multiple sources.

Min said US Weekly has been careful not to overstate what's known of the relationship, which the latest issue labels a "hot new friendship."

"The facts are that he comes to her apartment late at night, that they have a friendship, that she had never been photographed at a Yankees game until she was photographed in A-Rod's seats," said Min. "I think from those facts we put forth, a lot of people would infer that something more is going on."

Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, acknowledged the two know each other after meeting at a charity event, but denied any romance. Rodriguez has refused to even address the topic when questioned by reporters, leading some to wonder if he could indeed be involved in the biggest Yankee romance since Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.

On Thursday, the New York Daily News reported that Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia, have separated, citing an anonymous source. The couple was married in 2002 and has two children, Natasha Alexander and Ella Alexander. Then came news that Cynthia visited Kravitz in Paris.

"Cynthia is a friend ... she came here to escape from everything happening in New York City," Kravitz said in a statement. "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."

Coverage of the private lives of Yankees is not new, particularly in an era in which professional athletes are increasingly scrutinized off the field.

Earlier this year, it was reported that former Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens had an affair with country music singer Mindy McCready. Derek Jeter's string of girlfriends have also received considerable press, most notably a relationship with another mega-selling singer, Mariah Carey.

Rodriguez, however, has found himself in the tabloids more than any other Yankee since arriving in New York in 2004. Last year, he was labeled "Stray-Rod" on the front page of the New York Post after being photographed out at night with a former Vegas stripper.

On Thursday, sports talk radio in New York was dominated by larger concerns: mainly the dim playoff prospects for both the Yankees and Mets.

The sports blog Deadspin wondered Thursday how Rodriguez would be greeted by fans at Yankee Stadium in the team's upcoming series against the Boston Red Sox: "Will there be any cone bras in the stands? Sean Penn masks? The theme from `Evita' being sung by a heavenly choir of visiting Red Sox fans?"