Britain's top civil servant has said he did not confront Gordon Brown about "acting in a bullying or intimidatory manner" towards Downing Street staff.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell also said there was no need for an inquiry following newspaper stories about the PM's treatment of colleagues.
The Tories and Lib Dems have called for the situation to be cleared up.
Mr Brown said the story was "completely wrong" and that he had received no "private message" from Sir Gus.
In an interview with The Economist magazine, Mr Brown said: "The cabinet secretary has made it clear that he's had no inquiries, there's been no reprimand, there's been no private message to me... (the) story is completely wrong."
The row began with a story in the Observer, based on a book by journalist Andrew Rawnsley, detailing incidents in which Mr Brown allegedly grabbed staff by the lapels, shoved them aside and shouted at them.