Kabbalah coming between Madonna, A-Rod?

Courtney Hazlett The Scoop

Even before the ink was dry on Madonna’s divorce decree, her rumored beau, Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez, was beginning to distance himself from her beloved Kabbalah.

A source close to the Kabbalah Centre says that A-Rod has backed out of attending private classes with spiritual leader Eitan Yardeni, canceling them at the last minute.

“He hasn’t even finished Kabbalah 1 (the introduction to the study of Kabbalah) and the majority of the time he’s spent with Yardeni so far was for counseling, not study,” says the source.

Yardeni and Rodriguez were photographed together in New York City, when rumors of his involvement with Madonna first began.

“This is certainly off-putting to Madonna,” says the source. “She did drag Guy into Kabbalah, she’s doing the same now (with Rodriguez). But he’s bored. He’s basically a Kabbalah school dropout.”

Prepping to take Bush to Broadway
“You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush” doesn’t open on Broadway until February, but star Will Ferrell is already testing out material on audiences.

Last week, at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Los Angeles, Ferrell tried out lines about Osama bin Laden, saying, “Kinda dropped the ball on that one,” and global warming (“I believe in that about as much as I believe in Bigfoot. Then again, I believe in Bigfoot about 80 percent, so I guess that’s pretty real”).

The New York Post reports that while there were plenty of pithy one-liners, Ferrell’s portrayal of Bush was “surprisingly touching, as in moments when he mused about the members of the military who had died.”

Spade and the 'Housewife'
Looks like “Desperate Housewives” actress Nicollette Sheridan, who consistently claimed to be “too busy” to plan her wedding to former fiancé Michael Bolton, has gotten over their August split.

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Sheridan was spotted “full-on making out in a booth” with David Spade at Sheridan’s 45th birthday party at Luau in Beverly Hills, according to a People magazine reporter.

The couple hasn’t admitted to being an item, however.

In fact, Sheridan and Spade either had no intention of canoodling their way through the night, or they went to great pains to avoid giving off the appearance of coupledom.

Multiple sources say they arrived separately and began the night in separate booths. Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, and Kyle MacLachlan attended, too.

‘Twilight’ bites 007
Variety might have called “Twilight” a “disappointingly anemic tale (that) will bewilder and underwhelm viewers who haven't devoured Stephenie Meyer's bestselling juvie chick-lit franchise,” but that didn’t stop movie-goers from sinking a grand total of $70.7 million worth of their hard-earned dollars into the box office last weekend.

“Twilight” did so well, in fact, it bested the opening take for “Quantum of Solace,” which made $27.4 million its second weekend — a 59 percent drop from its debut. “Bolt” rounded out the top three; it took in $27 million.

Courtney Hazlett delivers the Scoop Monday through Friday on msnbc.com.

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