George Clooney Talks Girlfriend Rumors, Sets the Record Straight

By Elizabeth Leonard

10/30/2013 at 12:00 PM EDT

Since regaining his eligible-bachelor status this past summer after splitting with Stacy Keibler, George Clooney has been linked to a series of single women. In the last month alone, reports have swirled of a relationship with Katie Holmes, a rekindled romance with Croatian model Monika Jakisic and a hot dinner date with London barrister Amal Alamuddin.

So is Clooney really this, well, busy?

"Three different stories in three weeks. I should be an athlete. But, no of course, it's all made up," the Gravity actor, 52, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

According to Clooney's rep, Stan Rosenfield, the actor finally felt moved to put a stop to the gossip.

"George wants this Monika crap to stop. He wants Katie to get a break, and he wants Amal to be able to prosecute cases without being hassled because she had one dinner with George and four others … I even asked George if these [rumors] were true and he said he never comments on his private life, but in the interest of stopping the harassment of all three of these women, he felt he should."

A source close to the actor says much of the same: "George is not dating, nor has he dated Monika in several years, nor is he dating Katie Holmes – he simply hugged her at a premiere – nor is he the new boyfriend of Amal, who he is working with on a [surveillance] satellite program over Syria."

In other words, George is still a single guy.