Billy Bob: Don't Blame Me for Duchovny-Leoni Split

Thornton denies reports he had an affair with Téa Leoni

Unlike, say, Alex Rodriguez, Billy Bob Thornton is wasting no time in publicly distancing himself from any culpability in a major celeb split.

With David Duchovny and Téa Leoni revealing yesterday they have been separated for several months, dating back before the actor entered rehab to treat a sexual addiction, reports are already circulating that a possible affair between Leoni and Thornton was the real deal-breaker.

But the Thornton camp is claiming allegations of an extramarital affair, the swapping of illicit text messages or any other prurient misdeeds are categorically untrue.

"Billy Bob Thornton and Téa Leoni are just friends," Thornton publicist Arnold Robinson tells E! News.

While Leoni praises Thornton in this month's issue of More magazine, saying, "Billy Bob Thornton...is maybe my new favorite person in the world," Robinson said that the admiration was purely professional.

"They recently completed working on a film [the upcoming comedy Manure] together."

Your move, A-Rod.

—Additional reporting by Whitney English

(Originally published Oct. 16, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. PT.)