Eric Stonestreet, Charlize Theron? Really? The Twitter universe came alive over the weekend with rumors that the Modern Family star was dating the Hollywood beauty. The story actually began in the pages of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, which claimed “things are blossoming” between Stonestreet and Theron.

A ‘source’ told the newspaper, “Eric is down to earth and funny and Charlize thinks the world of him. It’s early days but they’re very fond of each other,” though funny-man Stonestreet quickly took to Twitter to silence the rumormongers in his own inimitable way, saying, “I wish people would stop spreading rumors that Charlize Theron and I are dating…It’s starting to make Halle Berry jealous.” The actor’s representative later issued a more formal denial of the story, telling People magazine, “There is nothing romantic going on between them. He has only met Charlize twice!” Despite Stonestreet rejecting the rumors, there was still speculation that Charlize and he would walk the red-carpet together at the 2012 Emmy Awards on Sunday.

In the end it wasn’t Theron – or Halle Berry for that matter – who accompanied the actor to the Emmys. Before the show, he tweeted, “Today I’m taking my best friend Paul to the Emmys. He dared me to audition for the first play I ever did.”