During week 4 of Dancing with the Stars, Anne Heche opened up about her very real struggles with homophobia in Hollywood. She even explained how her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres affected her incoming work.
Anne Heche's Relationship With Ellen DeGeneres
In a sneak peek for week 4 of Dancing with the Stars, People showed actress Anne Heche opening up to her suave partner Keo Motsepe about her struggles facing homophobia in Hollywood and how it impacted her career. She explained, "My story is a story that created change in the world, moved the needle for equal rights forward when I fell in love with Ellen DeGeneres."
Two decades ago when her romance with Ellen first began in 1997 and she fell for the comedian, Anne found herself shocked at how the Hollywood studios reacted to their relationship. "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.'"
Anne defied her studio's demands, saying "I took Ellen to the premiere and I was ushered out before the movie even ended and was told I was not allowed to go to my own after-party for fear that they would get pictures of me with a woman. It was unbelievable. You know part of my naivete was that I had no idea. She was warning me, "This is gonna happen, this is gonna 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."
Anne and Ellen broke up in August of 2000, Anne marrying twice more and having one child with each husband. Now she is dating her co-star Thomas Jane and is a recurring character on Chicago P.D.
Check out who was eliminated this week on Dancing with the Stars here!
