RUMOR CONTROL - Is Katy Perry Divorcing Russell Brand?

Early this morning, word spread like wildfire that Perry was looking to expatriate herself from her marriage to Russell Brand, with several outlets running with the supposed impending split news as fact.

So what's the deal? And how'd this rumor get started?

First of all, while neither Katy nor Russell has directly addressed the reports, a spokesman for the British funnyman did deny any knowledge of a bust-up to the U.K.'s Sunday Mirror editor Dean Piper.

"Spoken to Russell Brand's peeps," he tweeted this morning. "'Internet rumour—escalated out of control. Will check but we've not heard anything.' #thatsthatfornow"

Except that it wasn't, and despite the early morning denial, the rumor still hasn't slowed. So where did this rumor spring from?

Well, most outlets that repeated the rumor seemed to credit none other than TMZ with the supposed scoop, claiming that the site posted, and then quickly removed, a story claiming that divorce was nigh between the couple, who are no strangers to unfounded rumors.

However, TMZ's main sniffer dog, Harvey Levin, took to Twitter himself to clear his site's good name.
"A news outlet saying TMZ posted a story Katy Perry is getting divorced," he tweeted. "We did not post such a story…just made a call…100% NO DIVORCE."

Phew! Glad to hear it—though we'd much rather hear it straight from the source. If any couple has a way with words—particularly when they're shutting down rumors—it's these two.