Martin Short Denies Meryl Streep Dating Rumors: 'We're Not a Couple' (original) (raw)

The actor and comedian shut down the rumors during the latest episode of 'Club Random with Bill Maher'

Published on January 29, 2024 05:34AM EST

Meryl Streep and Martin Short at the AFI Awards 2024. Photo:

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

Martin Short is setting the record straight on those Meryl Streep dating rumors.

The actor and comedian, 73, appeared on Sunday's episode of Club Random with Bill Maher and shut down claims that he's dating his Only Murders in the Building costar, 74.

“We’re not a couple, we are just very close friends,” Short told podcast host Maher after he joked that they were a “power couple.”

“Well, you should because there’s nothing more powerful in Hollywood than a power couple,” Maher, 68, added light-heartedly in response. "It worked for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, it worked for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie."

Rumors of Short and Streep dating began circulating after fans believed that the Hollywood stars appeared to be close at the Golden Globes earlier this month.

Meryl Streep and Martin Short at the 2024 Golden Globes.

Todd Williamson/CBS via Getty

However, a rep for Short confirmed to PEOPLE at the time that the pair "are just very good friends, nothing more."

Short was married to actress Nancy Dolman from 1980 until her death from ovarian cancer in 2010. The pair share three children together: Katherine Elizabeth, 40, Oliver Patrick, 37, and Henry Hayter, 34.

"Our marriage was a triumph, so it's tough," he told AARP: The Magazine in 2019. "She died in 2010, but I still communicate with her all the time. It's, 'Hey Nan,' you know? How would she react to this decision or that, especially regarding our three kids."

Meryl Streep and Martin Short at the AFI Awards 2024.

Michael Kovac/Getty

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“I believe that when people die, they zoom into the people that love them," he added. "The idea that it just ends, and don't speak of them — that's wrong….to me, she's still here."

Meanwhile, PEOPLE confirmed in October that Streep had separated from her husband of 45 years, Don Gummer.

“Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than 6 years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart,” a representative for Streep told PEOPLE in a statement at the time.