How Much Money Did Alex Rodriguez’s Ex-Wife Cynthia Scurtis Make In Their Divorce?
Long before Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez were an item, the New York Yankees player was married to psychology teacher Cynthia Scurtis. Despite getting divorced over a decade ago, their marriage and the agreements they reached continued to haunt them for many years.
Alex Rodriguez’s first marriage ended in a messy divorce
Rodriguez and Scurtis got married in 2002 and had two daughters over the following six years. But Scurtis filed for divorce in 2008 due to “emotional abandonment” of their children as well as infidelity on Rodriguez’s part. “The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband’s extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct,” the divorce documents stated, according to the Seattle Times.
Rodriguez had reportedly cheated with a stripper, but there was also a high-profile name that was being thrown around: pop superstar Madonna. Madge (who was married herself at the time) denied the rumors, but it was still a contributing factor in Rodriguez and Scurtis’ divorce.
“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.”
The terms of Alex Rodriguez and Cynthia Scurtis’ divorce
In September 2008, the New York Daily News shared a statement that Rodriguez and Scurtis reached an amicable agreement behind closed doors. Despite it being a “private negotiation,” it was reported that Scurtis wanted alimony, child support, and their $12 million waterfront mansion in Coral Gables, Florida. At that time, Rodriguez made $28 million each season playing for the Yankees.
Scurtis reportedly called for “equitable distribution” of all assets acquired during their marriage. She asked for life and health insurance and enough money to pay for private schools so she and their two daughters can maintain their “high standard of living.”
Jennifer Lopez got involved in Alex Rodriguez and Cynthia Scurtis’ divorce agreement
In October 2018, People magazine quoted an inside source who claimed that Rodriguez “takes good care of his kids and he has been good to Cynthia but feels he is paying excessive amounts to his ex that should be lowered since he is no longer playing ball.” Rodriguez’s issue wasn’t for paying for their children together, but for continued spousal support, especially since Scurtis was engaged to and had a baby with a realtor.
TMZ reported that Rodriguez was shelling out $115,000 each month to cover spousal and child support payments. The problem was that this agreement was made when Rodriguez was earning millions of dollars annually playing baseball and hadn’t been changed since then
It’s not clear exactly how much Scurtis received from their 2008 divorce settlement or if Rodriguez was able to decrease those monthly payments. But if he paid around $115,000 a month for a decade, he would’ve shelled out around $13.8 million just on those payments.
The following month, Page Six reported that Rodriguez’s fiancée Jennifer Lopez showed up for a mediation session between him and Scurtis. Lopez allegedly showed up with the intent of helping him lower his monthly payments by tens of thousands of dollars.
Scurtis didn’t comment on whether Lopez tried to get involved in the support negotiations specifically, but she did say something was off about the whole encounter. “All I can tell you, there’s been a shift, and I’m not sure what to attribute it to,” she said. “Alex has dated some wonderful women since our divorce, many of whom have had positive relationships with our children. Alex and I have worked well trying to create a stable environment for our daughters and there has never been an issue. Until now.”
