Johnny Depp has finally shut down reports he has split from Vanessa Paradis, insisting, “No matter what I say about this, folks think the opposite.”

The Pirates of the Caribbean star started dating singer Paradis in 1998 and they have set up home in the south of France with their two young children, Lily-Rose, 12, and Jack, ten.

Earlier this year, gossips suggested the couple had begun to live separate lives due to developing tension about the actor’s booming career, and speculation about a separation continued to swirl as Depp and Paradis played coy about the status of their connection in media interviews.

The lovers of 14 years have not been photographed in public together for some time, and French star Paradis left Depp to walk the red carpet solo on Wednesday for the London premiere of his new movie Dark Shadows.

Nonetheless Depp, 48, has now spoken out to quell the claims as soon as and for all, telling Britain’s The Sun newspaper, “No matter what I say about this, men and women think the opposite. I can not say enough about it (the connection) not being over. The rumors are not accurate. They are totally not true.”