Celebrity Minka Kelly Shoots Down Sean Penn Dating Rumors The Friday Night Lights star took to Twitter Wednesday to deny any romantic relationship with Penn By Mike Miller Published on July 15, 2015 07:10 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Jeff Kravitz/Filmmagic; Charley Gallay/Getty Well, that settles that. Minka Kelly took to Twitter on Wednesday to squash the rumors that her swanky birthday dinner with a newly single Sean Penn was anything more than a friendly celebration. “Not my nature to address gossip but hoping this last one goes away already,” the Friday Night Lights actress wrote. “Not dating a friend I had a group dinner with. #sillymedia.” The post is undoubtedly a reference to Kelly’s 35th birthday dinner at the upscale eatery French Laundry on June 23, which she attended with a small group of friends – including Sean Penn, who had just split from Charlize Theron a week prior. RELATED: It’s Minka Kelly’s Birthday! Kelly posted an Instagram photo of herself blowing out candles at the Napa Valley restaurant, along with the caption “Birthday festivities off to a pretty magical start.” “Sean and Minka have been friends for a long time,” a source told PEOPLE at the time. “It was just a group of friends out to dinner and purely platonic.”