'Red flag, red flag, red flag!' Anne Heche said she warned Portia de Rossi about Ellen DeGeneres
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: With Anne Heche's death on August 12, following the car crash, there has been renewed interest in episodes of 'Better Together', the podcast she co-hosted with her friend, Heather Duffy Boylston. Heche spoke candidly about her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, whom she dated between 1997 and 2000, in one episode, which premiered on YouTube on June 28, 2021.
Heche also claimed that DeGeneres' now-wife Portia de Rossi told her several years ago that she was planning a romantic relationship with the comedian. Since 2008, DeGeneres and de Rossi have been married. "Portia came to my wedding [to Coleman Laffoon in 2001] because I was on Ally McBeal with her. Heche said that Portia even said, "'I'm gonna go after Ellen,'"
RELATED ARTICLES
Anne Heche's official cause of death ruling REVEALED days after actress was taken off life support
Heche said she told the Arrested Development star: "You won't be the poster child, girl, because guess what, that poster child has already been taken. And by the way, it wasn't a great spot. But... yours ain't gonna be any easier."
"And I'm telling you now, like, red flag, red flag, red flag!" Heche said she told de Rossi, 49, of DeGeneres, 64.
Heche was critically injured when her Mini Cooper crashed into a burning house in Los Angeles on August 5. TMZ also shared video of Heche's vehicle hitting an apartment complex garage shortly before the crash. Doorbell cameras at the time captured what appeared to be Heche's car traveling at high speed in the moments before the collision in the Mar Vista neighborhood.
A week after Heche's subsequent hospitalization, her representative said in a statement that the mother-of-two would be "deeply missed" by those whose lives she had touched. Heche and Boylston also made jokes about DeGeneres' penchant for buying Porsches before marrying a woman named Portia. Despite Heche's alleged warning, there is no indication of any problems in DeGeneres and de Rossi's marriage, which celebrated 14 years of marriage on Tuesday.
When asked about Heche's podcast claims, a DeGeneres representative told Newsweek that the comedian "only wants the best for Anne's family during this very difficult time."
In another podcast episode, Heche accused DeGeneres of excluding her from her hugely popular The Ellen DeGeneres Show, claiming that this made networks and studios hesitant to hire her due to her difficulty in promoting projects. "People are coming to us now, and we're getting information about how she blocked you in ways we had no idea," Boylston said of DeGeneres. "What we're discovering is that that show was apparently held over your head as a tool for going out."
"If you're on a show or in a film, they have to promote it through the Ellen Show. What's more, guess what? Ellen barred you from appearing on the show, and everyone knows it—so much so that friends of ours who have appeared on the show have told us that they were specifically told in the green room before going on the show not to bring up your name."
Boylston continued, saying "People I'm speaking with are coming forward and saying, 'Well, our hands were tied with the Ellen Show.' And think about all the studios, TV shows, and films that looked at you and then said, 'Oh wait, there's that Ellen c***block we have to consider.' Let's just bring in Mira Sorvino."
"That's right," said Heche, before imagining an alleged stance that DeGeneres would have taken. "You have her in your movie, you have her in your show, you ain't gonna get promo on mine."
"I broke up with her because her goal was to have a lot of money and mine was to find love," Heche later said. "Hers was, I want 60 billion. Good luck, our forks are never going to meet. The further we stay on with this, the further we will be apart."
During Heche's hospitalization following her car accident, DeGeneres was approached by a reporter in Santa Barbara, California, who asked if she had spoken to the Men in Trees star. "We are not in touch with each other, so I wouldn't know," she told the Daily Mail cameras regarding Heche's condition, before wishing her the best. "I don't want anyone to be hurt," she said.
DeGeneres issued a statement on Twitter shortly after Heche's death was announced: "This is a sad day. I'm sending Anne's children, family and friends all of my love." DeGeneres previously stated that their split was unexpected, telling The Los Angeles Times in 2001: "I haven't spoken to her since she walked out the door. I don't have any solutions."