Martin Short denies Meryl Streep romance rumors: 'Just very close friends'

Fans love a good celebrity couple. However, this isn't that, according to Martin Short. 

The Three Amigos actor addressed his rumored romance with Meryl Streep during an appearance on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast on Sunday. "We're not a couple. We are just very close friends," Short said after the host jokingly called them a "power couple."

Short and Streep shared the screen in 2023 when the 21-time Oscar nominee joined the cast of Only Murders in the Building. Dating speculation began, however, following the Jan. 7 Golden Globes ceremony, where some believed the pair looked awfully close.

"Well," Maher responded, "you should, because there's nothing more powerful in Hollywood than a power couple."

Maher compared the revered actors, both of whom are in their 70s, to other spotlight-stealing Hollywood couples. "It worked for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. It worked for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie."

In addition to Sunday's denial, a representative for Short told PEOPLE almost the exact same thing following the Golden Globes, stating that the actors "are just very good friends, nothing more."

Despite Short's denials, speculative fans have gone full true crime podcast, linking their romance to a report from PEOPLE in October that Streep and her husband of 45 years, Don Gummer, had separated. Fans will have to settle for the chemistry between Oliver and Loretta rather than Martin and Meryl.

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