Eddie Murphy, Toni Braxton Dating? 'Just Friends, says Murphy

Just as the Eddie Murphy and Toni Braxon dating rumors were starting to warm gossipmongers' hearts, the comedian has set the record straight.

Toni and I are just friends . . . I went to her show, and we're friends and she's a very, very sweet girl, but we're just friends, Murphy, 50, told Access Hollywood on Wednesday.

That's right, Murphy quoted friends three times in that sentence.

Murphy's comments come just one day after Us Weekly reported that the funnyman was dating Braxton, 44.

Sources told the magazine that the pair were seeing each other and very into it, adding that the relationship was four months old.

Their kids have met and everything, it's getting serious, the source also told Us Weekly.

The Braxton dating rumor is the latest Eddie Murphy headline to hit Hollywood.

Earlier this week, the would-be Oscar host told Extra that had he gone through with hosting duties, the show would have been better.

It would be a little quicker with me driving, said Murphy, who quit the Oscars in November after the show's producer Brett Ratner dropped out.

Ratner's exit was related to anti-gay comments he made during a Q&A session for his film, Tower Heist, which Murphy starred in. The director later commented on his sexual life on The Howard Stern Show, further wrecking his shiny Oscar image.

So would Murphy ever consider hosting the Oscars in the future?

If they ask me again and it comes around, I'm totally open to do . . . it's one of the few things that I haven't done as a comedian. So yeah, one day, he told Extra.

Murphy, of course, has had his fair share of publicized romance in Hollywood, the most famous and controversial being with Spice Girl Melanie Brown, who gave birth to Murphy's child, Angel Iris Murphy Brown in 2007.

In 2008, Murphy and Tracey Edmonds (ex-wife of Kenneth Babyface Edmonds) called off their wedding plans after a short romance.

Meanwhile, Braxton's last romantic relationship ended in 2009, when she separated from musician Keri Lewis. The two were married in 2001 and had two children together. Braxton's most recent album, Pulse, has sold nearly 150,000 copies in the US since its 2010 release.

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