Anne Heche: Ellen DeGeneres didn’t want me to ‘dress sexy’ – Inside NoVA
Anne Heche claims Ellen DeGeneres didn’t want her to “dress sexy” when they were dating.
The ‘Volcano’ actress – who dated the talk show host from 1997 to 2000 – recently reviewed her “most iconic fashion looks” in a funny TikTok video and when looking back at the outfit she wore to the Golden Globes in 1998 with her then-partner, she made the revelation.
Showing a picture of Ellen in a silk navy suit and Anne wearing a matching dress, sheer duster coat and sunglasses, the actress said: “Why do I look like a hippie? It’s because Ellen didn’t want me to dress sexy.”
She gave her look a zero out of 10 and put her thumbs down as she said: “Bye, no.”
But while Anne didn’t rate that look, she felt the red Prada outfit she donned to present with P. Diddy at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards was a “total hit” and a Versace cut-out gown she wore for an HBO afterparty was worth a full 10 out of 10.
The ‘Donnie Brasco’ actress concluded her review with a look back at one of her most iconic ‘Dancing With the Stars’ outfits.
She said of the rainbow-caped ensemble: “What better time to have you go inside out, upside down and backwards for gay rights and human rights. I am the flag.”
During her time competing on the show last year, the 51-year-old star claimed she lost a multi-million dollar movie contract because of her relationship with Ellen and wasn’t even allowed to attend the afterparty of her own movie because bosses were concerned about negative publicity.
And after defying the ‘Finding Dory’ star’s advice to keep their relationship under wraps for the sake of her career, Anne experienced tough consequences to her career for the next decade.
She reflected: “My story is a story that created change in the world, moved the needle for equal rights forward
“In 1997, I met Ellen DeGeneres at the Vanity Fair party and that was the night that changed my life forever.
“My movie premiere for ‘Volcano’, 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
“At that moment, she took my hand and said, ‘Do what they say,’ and I said, ‘No thanks.’
“I took Ellen to the premiere and I was ushered out by security before the movie even ended and was told I was not allowed to go to my own after party for fear they would get pictures of me with a woman… she was warning me, ‘This is going to happen.’
“I was in a relationship with Ellen DeGeneres for three-and-a-half years and the stigma attached to that relationship was so bad that I was fired from my multi-million-dollar picture deal and I did not work in a studio picture for 10 years.”