In a 2021 Podcast Episode, Anne Heche Said She Warned Portia de Rossi About Dating Ellen DeGeneres
Anne Heche died on August 12, one week after the car she was operating drove through a house in a residential Los Angeles neighborhood and burst into flames. While Heche is known for a huge body of acting work, her romantic connection to Ellen DeGeneres has also been heavily examined, even though the former flames broke up decades ago. Heche herself has openly discussed the tumultuous love affair she had with DeGeneres. She spoke about it on her podcast, Better Together with Anne Heche and Heather Duffy, as recently as June 2021. In one podcast episode, Heche recalled how she tried to warn Portia de Rossi off of making a play for DeGeneres.
Anne Heche recalled warning Portia de Rossi off of Ellen DeGeneres in her podcast
Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres were the “it” couple of the late 1990s, and then they weren’t. The couple broke up in 2000. The media heavily speculated about the relationship’s demise. Heche married Coleman Laffoon a year later. Ellen moved on, too. Still, there were some hard feelings, and time hadn’t tempered them. In June, Heche discussed how she initially tried to warn DeGeneres’ longtime wife off of dating the talk show host in the first place.
On the June 28, 2021, episode of Better Together with Anne Heche and Heather Duffy, a Straw Hut Media production, Heche recalled de Rossi mentioning that she was interested in DeGeneres and what she told her former work pal. Heche, who worked with de Rossi on Ally McBeal, said that de Rossi told her she was interested in DeGeneres in 2001. She said she told the starlet she was treading in dangerous water and claimed DeGeneres was a “red flag.”
It isn’t the first time Heche has spoken about her life following her heavily publicized relationship. In 2021, Heche said the entertainment industry abandoned her for a decade after her relationship with Ellen ended. In a 2021 interview with the New York Post, she said, “I was fired from a $10 million picture deal and did not see the light of day in a studio picture.”
Ellen DeGeneres issued a statement following Anne Heche’s death
DeGeneres and de Rossi have not commented on Heche’s podcast episode. DeGeneres did issue a statement following Heche’s death, though. The talk show host took to Twitter in the hours after Heche died to say, “This is a sad day. I’m sending Anne’s children, family and friends all of my love.”
According to Entertainment Tonight, DeGeneres ran into a photographer shortly after the car accident that claimed Heche’s life. When asked about the accident, DeGeneres noted that she was not in contact with Heche. She did add, “I don’t want anyone to be hurt.” DeGeneres made the statement after several news outlets reported that the Six Days Seven Nights star was in stable condition. Her condition later deteriorated.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi wed in 2008
After Heche, Ellen DeGeneres dated Alexandra Hedison for a few years before she and de Rossi got together. De Rossi and DeGeneres met in 2000, just as DeGeneres’ relationship with Heche was winding down. De Rossi revealed she was enamored with DeGeneres immediately. Still, they didn’t find themselves in a relationship until 2004.
The couple married in 2008 and have been together ever since. Despite ups and downs in DeGeneres’ career, the duo seems happy together. On August 17, one week after Heche’s death, DeGeneres and de Rossi celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary. Ellen took to Instagram to commemorate the occasion. De Rossi didn’t publicly comment on her wedding anniversary. Still, she often takes to the social media platform to praise her wife, recently writing that she married an “icon.”
