Madonna launches new single 'Give It 2 Me' as a media storm brews over a
reported affair with New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. 

WARNER MUSIC - 
Pop star Madonna denied having an affair with Yankee slugger Alex
Rodriguez and said in a statement to People magazine on Sunday (July 6) she is
not planning to get divorced from her British husband Guy Ritchie.  
    Rumors that the London-based couple planned to split have been
circulating for months, fuelled most recently by reports that she had hired a
lawyer to divorce film maker Ritchie.
    "My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce," the
singer said in a statement to People.
    "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," she
said.
    People magazine reported on Sunday that Rodriguez's wife, Cynthia, had
left the Yankee baseball star over the alleged affair with Madonna, citing
sources close to the situation.
    The speculation about Madonna's marriage reached a fever pitch in the
last two weeks in London, where the Daily Mirror newspaper dedicated two front
pages to the plight of the couple's relationship.
    Madonna, 49, and Ritchie, 39, married in December 2000 at Skibo Castle
in northeast Scotland. They met at a party hosted by ex-Police frontman Sting
and his wife Trudie Styler.
    Their son, Rocco, was several months old on their wedding day, and in
2006 Madonna applied to adopt David Banda, a boy from Malawi whose mother had
died shortly after his birth. The adoption was approved by a Malawian court in
May.
    Madonna also has a daughter, Lourdes, from an earlier relationship. She
was married once before, to Hollywood actor Sean Penn, in the 1980s.
    'Give It 2 Me' was produced by Pharrell Williams and features the
N.E.R.D. band member in the music video.
    Madonna is set to kick off a world tour in Cardiff on August 23.