Paltrow says Madonna's 'doing great'; plus, Lindsay vs. Scarlett; the latest romance chatter; baby talk; overshares from Jessica Alba and Diddy, and much more ...

Posted Nov. 17, 2008

When celebrities collide, the rumor mill cranks up. Case in point: The grand reopening of the super-swank Fontainebleau Hotel on Friday night in Miami Beach, where Madonna's BFF Gwyneth Paltrow socialized with a star-crammed crowd that not so coincidentally included the Big M's rumored kindred Kabbalah spirit, Alex Rodriguez.

Depending on which eyewitness account you believe, there were plenty of "deep" tête-à-têtes taking place at the shindig, most of them centering on A-Rod.

Kate Hudson arrives at the Fontainebleau Hotel grand reopening party in Miami Beach on Nov. 14. (©AP)

Let's start with the New York Daily News, which claims the New York Yankees star enjoyed a flirtatious confab with Kate Hudson.

"Hudson had her arms completely wrapped around A-Rod's waist, and every time he leaned over to talk to anyone, she would pull him back toward her," maintains a spy. "They were laughing and giggling all night."

According to the paper, the actress also tried to get the baseballer's attention the following evening at the Victoria's Secret fashion show afterparty, calling his name and dancing in his line of sight, all to no avail.

As Hudson walked away, Rodriguez purportedly opined to a pal, "That's trouble."

Still, photos from the Fontainebleau fete offer a slightly different perspective, with Kate, who split from Lance Armstrong in July and was recently linked to high school pal Baron Davis (the Los Angeles Clippers player tells People they're just "really good friends who support each other and that's it"), snapped laughing, giggling and posing with Paltrow.

Besides, OK! reports that Rodriguez was on his best behavior at Friday's bash, fending off several female admirers, including a persistent dark-haired looker, with a little help from Gwyneth and another Madonna confidant, Ingrid Casares.

"[Casares] wedged herself in between A-Rod and the brunette and didn't even acknowledge that the other woman was there," a mole tells the magazine. "Ingrid diverted Alex's attention and made sure to keep him deep in conversation."

Gwyneth and A-Rod share a moment at the Miami bash. (©AP)

Meanwhile, Rodriguez was also spotted "deep in conversation" with Paltrow, says E! News, while the London Daily Mirror believes he looked "spellbound" with her, although maybe he was simply amazed that she was slouching around the soiree in a shapeless white minidress that clung despondently to her cleavage.

Mrs. Chris Martin was apparently doing her best to get to know A-Rod, who was accused of having an "affair of the heart" with Madonna prior to her split from Guy Ritchie (it was denied all around), reportedly joining him for lunch at the hotel prior to the party.

As for Madonna, A-Rod remained tight-lipped on the touchy subject, but Gwyneth was happy to pipe in on how she's getting along in the post-Ritchie world.

"She's doing well, doing great actually," Paltrow bubbled to reporters (via OK!).

Madonna takes daughter Lourdes to the Los Angeles Kabbalah Centre on Nov. 14. (©X17Online.com)

Madonna, who's still plugging along on her Sticky & Sweet tour, was seen over the weekend with daughter Lourdes at the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles (sons Rocco and David were presumably still with Ritchie, whom they reunited with last week in London).

Rodriguez is rumored to be considering joining Madonna on the South American leg of her tour, which might curtail his supposed love letter campaign.

An insider tells the Chicago Sun-Times that A-Rod has been putting his feelings down on paper, "sort of like old-fashioned love notes," which purportedly led Madonna to gush to a pal that he has "the heart of a poet trapped inside an insanely gorgeous body."