Producer Aaron Sorkin sits for a photo with cast members Emily Mortimer (C) and Jeff Daniels (R) at the offices of HBO in New York, May 17, 2012. Sorkin's new series "The Newsroom" will premier on HBO on June 24. (REUTERS/Keith Bedford)

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has vehemently denied reports he fired the entire writing staff of his show The Newsroom.

Rumours of behind-the-scenes drama emerged last month, suggesting the Oscar-winning TV boss had dismissed most of the staff, except for his alleged ex-girlfriend Corinne Kingsbury, after the programme received mixed reviews from critics.

Sorkin has now spoken out to set the record straight, insisting there was no shake-up in the writers' room.

He tells reporters at a Television Critics Association (TCA) panel, "I want to be as clear as I possibly can about this. The writing staff was not fired. Just seeing that in print is scaring the hell out of the writing staff. They're acting very strange. They're coming to work early. They're acting polite to me. I want the old gang back. I thought that we did great this year and it's a fantastic group to work with."

Sorkin, who is now in a relationship with actress Kristin Davis, also dismissed the purported romantic link to Kingsbury, adding, "(She) was incorrectly identified as my ex-girlfriend. She is not. I don't have an ex-girlfriend in the writers' room or anywhere else on the show. I think she's at the beginning of a very exciting career and I would hate for this rumour... to follow her around."