A Look Back at Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres’ Relationship After Former Talk Show Host Comments on Ex’s Horrific Car Crash
Following the car crash in which Anne Heche suffered a severe brain injury, the actor’s most famous ex, Ellen DeGeneres, was asked for her reaction to the news.
Here’s what the former talk show host said about that, plus a look back at their relationship and why DeGeneres was so shocked when they split.
Heche said her public relationship with DeGeneres affected her career
DeGeneres recalled the first time she met the Six Days Seven Nights star at a party and said they had instant “chemistry.”
“I met her at the Vanity Fair party. And it was a chemistry thing that you can’t really describe. It just happened,” she told Tampa Bay Times. “Obviously I was attracted to her, but that wasn’t enough. There are a lot of attractive people. She is so unique.”
The pair began dating and Heche claimed that they wanted to make their red-carpet debut at the Volcano premiere in 1997 but the studio was against it. “I had told them that I was taking Ellen as my date and I was told if I took Ellen, I would lose my Fox contract,” Heche explained (per Page Six). “At that moment, she took my hand and said, ‘Do what they say,’ and I said, ‘No thanks.’”
Heche went on to say that after they went public with their relationship, her career was affected.
“I didn’t do a studio picture for 10 years. I was fired from a $10 million picture deal and did not see the light of day in a studio picture,” the star alleged. She added: “Those repercussions that happened are to me what has created a part of the change. I’m a part of it. It is a badge of honor.”
DeGeneres said she didn’t know why Heche broke up with her
After three years together, Heche and DeGeneres stunned many fans when they announced their split in a statement that read:
“Unfortunately, we have decided to end our relationship. It is an amicable parting, and we greatly value the three and a half years we have spent together. We hope everyone will respect our privacy through this difficult time.”
However, the comedian later revealed when speaking to the Los Angeles Times that she didn’t really know why they broke up and felt “betrayed.”
“She walked out the door and I haven’t spoken to her since. I don’t have the answers,” DeGeneres admitted. “I would love to have them myself. I would ask all of the questions that everyone else wants to ask … I’m left with everybody else wondering what happened. I don’t know, I feel betrayed.”
DeGeneres’ reaction to Heche’s car wreck
On Aug. 5, 2022, Heche crashed her Mini Cooper into a house in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles. The wreck caused the home to catch fire and Heche, who was injured and badly burned, was taken to a nearby hospital where she was listed in “extreme critical condition.”
As the Daily Mail reported while spotted out in Santa Barbara, California, DeGeneres was asked for her reaction to news of Heche’s car crash and condition.
DeGeneres responded: “We are not in touch with each other, so I would not know.” She then clarified that she wishes for her recovery saying: “I don’t want anyone to be hurt.”
Following their split in 2000, Heche married real estate broker Coleman Lafoon the following year. They divorced in 2009. She was also in a long-term relationship with fellow actor James Tupper from 2007 to 2018. DeGeneres meanwhile went on to marry Portia de Rossi in 2008.
Update: Following the publication of this article, Heche’s rep confirmed that she is “brain dead,” making her legally dead under California law. Upon hearing that news DeGeneres tweeted: “This is a sad day. I’m sending Anne’s children, family and friends all of my love.”
