Morgan Freeman is not, and never has been, romantically involved with his step-granddaughter, the actor has finally explained.
After years of whispers, the 74-year-old actor has finally responded to reports that he is in love with and planning to marry 27-year-old E’Dena Hines, the granddaughter of his first wife, Jeanette Adair Bradshaw, with whom he split in 1979. While Freeman and Hines are not related by blood, Freeman had adopted Hines’ mother. Freeman and Hines formed a close bond over the years, with Freeman often bringing his step-granddaughter as his plus one to premieres and award shows.
“The recent reports of any pending marriage or romantic relationship of me to anyone are defamatory fabrications from the tabloid media designed to sell papers,” Morgan says, shooting down the widely circulated rumor that his second marriage to costume designer Myrna Colley-Lee crumbled in 2008 because of a romance with his step-granddaughter. “What is even more alarming is that these fabrications are now being picked up by the legitimate press as well.”
At the same time, Hines is also setting straight.
“These stories about me and my grandfather are not only untrue, they are also hurtful to me and my family,” she said in a statement.
Reports about Freeman and Hines first appeared in the summer of 2009, when The National Enquirer published an “incest shocker” alleging that Freeman had been having a decade-long affair with Hines, starting when she was a teenager.
Freeman’s rep explained to TMZ that Freeman had originally chosen to ignore the rumor so as not to “dignify these stories by commenting.” However, with the rumor picking up as much steam as it had, Freeman felt now was time to set the record straight.