Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes wants to set the record straight: T.R. Knight and Katherine Heigl are not leaving the show.

"That was a very interesting rumor," Rhimes said Thursday night at the 40th NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles. "And it's not true."

Rhimes was referring to a recent comment in the press attributed to Grey's castmember James Pickens Jr., in which he was said to be confirming the departure of Heigl and Knight.

"That was absolutely taken out of context," said Rhimes. "Things happen, and ... I think rumors become fact very easily. And you know I don't like to tell you what's going to happen on the show – but that is a rumor," she emphasized.

Pickens Explains
For his part, Pickens says he meant to wish the pair well in general.

"We've been living with these rumors for a long time," he said before the NAACP's awards show. "When the question was posed to me, I was more trying to congratulate Katie and T.R. on whatever they were going to do. But yeah, I don't have any special info about it either way."

ABC's Grey's Anatomy  took home three awards, including Chandra Wilson's win for outstanding actress in a drama series. Wilson said she was looking forward to the show's upcoming 100th episode – and insisted things were all good on the set.

"We're laughing at the rumors, as we always do," Wilson said before the ceremony. "Stories come out, and [there are] these big quotes, and we go, 'But that's not exactly what I said.' So, we're busy doing our jobs, doing our work."