In the year prior to her death at age 53 on Aug. 14, Anne Heche had been writing a memoir called ‘Call Me Anne,’ which includes intimate details about her 1990’s romance with Ellen DeGeneres, 64. After meeting at a Vanity Fair Oscar party, the two women became one of the first openly gay couples in Hollywood. The Hollywood Reporter published excerpts from the book, and, among other claims, Anne wrote that she was “labeled outrageous” at the time because she “fell in love with a woman.”
“I did not, personally, identify as a lesbian. I simply fell in love! It was, to be clear, as odd to me as anyone else. There were no words to describe how I felt. Gay didn’t feel right, and neither did straight,” Anne wrote in her upcoming book, which is a sequel to her 2001 memoir ‘Call Me Crazy’ and is set to be released in January 2023.
“Alien might be the best fit, I sometimes thought,” Anne wrote before adding. “What, why, and how I fell in love with a person instead of their gender, I would have loved to have answered if anyone had asked, but as I said earlier, no one ever did. I am happy that I was able to tell you in this book — once and for all.”
As a result of her relationship with Ellen, which lasted from 1997 – 2000, Anne wrote in the book that she was blacklisted by Hollywood during, what was to be, the peak of her budding career. After Anne was declared brain dead on Aug. 12, as a result of the injuries she sustained in a fiery car crash in L.A. one week prior, Ellen expressed her condolences on Twitter, writing, “This is a sad day. I’m sending Anne’s children, family, and friends all of my love.”