Ellen DeGeneres sends 'all my love' to Anne Heche's family: 'This is a sad day'
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Ellen DeGeneres is mourning the death of ex-girlfriend Anne Heche, who died Friday at the age of 53.
"This is a sad day. I'm sending Anne's children, family and friends all of my love," the talk show host tweeted just as news broke that Heche had died a week after suffering a severe anoxic brain injury when the Mini Cooper she was driving crashed into a residence in Mar Vista, Los Angeles.
DeGeneres and Heche began dating in 1997, when both were at career pinnacles. Heche was enjoying a string of hits all out in the same year (Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Wag the Dog) while DeGeneres' sitcom Ellen was at the height of its popularity following the actor publicly coming out that spring.
Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty Images Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche
In 1999, the two publicly stated they would wed if the Vermont Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. "There is no one keeping their fingers crossed more than us," Heche said at the time.
JIM RUYMEN/AFP via Getty Images Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche in 2000.
After the couple split in 2000, Heche began publicly dating Coleman "Coley" Laffoon, a cameraman who'd worked on DeGeneres' recent comedy tour. She and Laffoon married in September 2001 and welcomed a son, Homer, in March of the following year. Laffoon filed for divorce in 2005, and shortly after the divorce was finalized in 2007, Heche was linked to her Men in Trees costar James Tupper. Though they never wed, Heche and Tupper had a son, Atlas, together in 2009 and eventually separated in 2018.
Following her breakup from Heche, DeGeneres dated photographer Alexandra Hedison from 2000 to 2004. In 2004 she began dating Portia de Rossi, to whom she has been wed since 2008.
Heche's fatal accident occurred on Aug. 5, with the fiery car crash igniting a blaze that engulfed both the car and the home into which it crashed. It took 59 firefighters to extinguish the flames. The homeowner was not injured. Heche had narcotics in her system at the time, according to a spokesperson from the Los Angeles Police Department.
The day prior to her death, a public information officer told EW Heche was under investigation and facing potential felony DUI charges. However, further tests were needed to determine if the results were skewed by the medications administered during her treatment.
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