Sometimes, when I’m reading a story about a celebrity couple that spends a lot of money on each other, buying each other extremely lavish gifts, I think to myself “Soulless consumerism meets celebrity oligarchy, end times are near.” Other times, I really enjoy hearing about the gifts. It really depends on the couple. With a couple like Posh and Becks, or even Oprah, I tend to roll my eyes. When it’s someone like Denzel Washington, I go “aw… sweet.”

So imagine my surprise when I read this In Touch report on how Alex Rodriguez is dropping major cash on Kate Hudson and her son - I didn’t roll my eyes. I actually found it a little sweet. A-Rod apparently treats Kate like a queen, buying her lavish gifts and letting her use his plane whenever she wants. He also gets gifts for her son Ryder. Now, I don’t think Kate and Alex are going to last or anything, and yes, she’s probably screwing up her son by letting him get attached to these guys, but I still like this story. Mainly because I don’t think Kate is very materialistic (she really does seem like a hippie), so it must be nice for her to experience a guy who actually wants to spoil her a little:

They’ve only been dating for a few months, but Alex Rodriguez is already spoiling Kate Hudson. According to an insider, Alex recently bought her an 18-karat gold Cartier Roadster watch, and gave her unlimited access to his private jet.

A-Rod has also been lavishing gifts on Kate’s son, Ryder - in addition to a VIP tour of Yankee Stadium, he got the 5-year-old a mini-motorized bike.

The two were even seen shopping up a storm together at Barneys in LA on July 12.

“Kate’s never had a guy spend so much money on her so soon,” her pal explains. “She’s very impressed with Alex’s generosity. But she also thinks he is a very nice guy. She is really falling for him.”

[From In Touch, print edition, July 27 2009]

Is Kate falling for Alex? They’ve been dating for a couple of months now, so I guess they’re still in the heat of it. When the heat dies, that’s when the problems start, especially for Kate. Star Magazine has a semi-interesting take on the whole A-Rod/Hudson situation - it’s an interview with a woman A-Rod had an affair with back in 2004:

Alex Rodriguez’s former lover tells Star that Kate Hudson should enjoy her fling with the baseball stud — while it lasts!

“Kate is setting herself up for disaster if she is taking Alex seriously!” fitness expert Alicia Marie, who says she was secretly seeing Alex behind his ex-wife Cynthia’s back for four years, tells Star in an exclusive interview.

Alicia began seeing Alex in 2004 after meeting him at the NYC restaurant Tao. “When I was with him, he never said anything about his wife,” Alicia tells Star. “I figure he had some kind of arrangement, since he was still married.”

Alex and Cynthia’s divorce was finalized in January — but Alicia says Kate can forget about becoming the next Mrs. A-Rod. “If they’re together, they must have something in common. But I hope she’s just having fun with him, because he’s the type of guy who will break your heart!”

[From Star]

Okay, so this woman that the then-married A-Rod had an affair with back in 2004 is getting her name in the tabloids by giving Kate Hudson a “warning”. Interesting. I’ll buy that A-Rod is a douchey cheater, but I kind of think he’s a romantic too. I’m judging him from the whole Madonna incident, when it seemed like he was way more into Madonna than she was to him. I think it’s perfectly possible Alex has real feelings for Kate. And one thing to keep in mind: Kate is as much of a heartbreaker as Alex, if not more so.