Morgan Freeman: No, I'm Not Marrying My Step-Granddaughter

Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman is seeking to quash rumors that he plans to marry his step-granddaughter, issuing a statement this week that called the reports "defamatory fabrications."

Reports first swirled in 2009 that the "Million Dollar Baby" actor, 74, had been carrying on a 10-year romantic relationship with E'Dena Hines, then 27 years old. The rumor mill kicked up again this week with claims that the alleged couple's wedding was imminent.

“The recent reports of any pending marriage or romantic relationship of me to anyone are defamatory fabrications from the tabloid media designed to sell papers," Freeman said in a statement Thursday, according to The Wrap. "What is even more alarming is that these fabrications are now being picked up by the legitimate press as well.”

Hines added: "These stories about me and my grandfather are not only untrue, they are also very hurtful to me and my family."

Hines is the granddaughter of Freeman's first wife, Jeanette Adair Bradshaw. Freeman and Bradshaw divorced in 1979 after 12 years of marriage.

Freeman and his second wife, Myrna Colley-Lee, divorced in 2010.