Anne Heche didn\u2019t just dodge rumors \u2014 after an alleged fiery faceoff with Fran Weinstein, she reportedly took matters into her own hands.<\/p>\n
The former \u201cEntertainment Tonight\u201d producer learned the hard way how the late actress would go to great lengths to protect her romance with Ellen DeGeneres. Weinstein wrote a memoir,\u00a0\u201cTortured Soles,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0chronicling her high-heeled chase of the rich and famous behind velvet ropes.<\/p>\n In 1998, Weinstein was interviewing Heche for the remake of \u201cPsycho,\u201d co-starring Vince Vaughn. At the time, Heche was dating DeGeneres, but there were whispers she had an on-set romance with the actor, Weinstein claimed.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter asking the perfunctory questions, I asked her, \u2018How much fun was it to reunite with\u00a0Vince Vaughn?\u2019\u201d Weinstein told Fox News Digital. \u201cBecause they had just done a movie before that. And she said, \u2018Oh, it was really fun. He was awesome.\u2019 Then her eyes opened like a sinkhole because she saw I was going further.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so I said, \u2018Well, rumor had it that you guys were an item while making the movie,’\u201d Weinstein recalled. \u201cOh, my God. Her jaw dropped to the floor, and she said, \u2018I don\u2019t want you to talk about it. I don\u2019t want anybody to know about this. I don\u2019t want my girlfriend to know about it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe had just gotten together with Ellen DeGeneres,\u201d said Weinstein. \u201cTheir romance was new, and I guess she just did not want anything to muddy the waters, shall we say.\u201d<\/p>\n Retired \u201cEntertainment Tonight\u201d producer Fran Weinstein claimed she had a heated disagreement with actress Anne Heche during an interview for the remake of \u201cPsycho.\u201d FOX News<\/p>\n Heche repeatedly told Weinstein she didn\u2019t want to discuss the gossip. The\u00a0entertainment news<\/a>\u00a0veteran assured her they were moving on. They spoke for another 15 minutes about Heche\u2019s Christmas plans with DeGeneres. The interview was over \u2014 or so Weinstein thought.<\/p>\n \u201cShe gets up, walks to the door, we say thanks and goodbye,\u201d said Weinstein. \u201cShe whips her head around and says to me, \u2018I don\u2019t want you to use that stuff about me and Vince Vaughn.\u2019 I said, \u2018No problem. I told you I wouldn\u2019t. Have a nice day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe crew and I are now packing up, and I hear a knock at the door. It\u2019s the studio publicist. She goes, \u2018Fran, she wants the tape.\u2019 I said, \u2018What? That\u2019s not happening. We don\u2019t do that. That\u2019s my notebook. Just tell her it\u2019s all good. I\u2019m moving on. I\u2019m not using the stuff about Vince Vaughn.\u2019 She said, \u2018OK, I\u2019ll tell her.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still packing up,\u201d Weinstein continued. \u201cNext thing I know, there\u2019s another knock at the door. Now it\u2019s her personal publicist. He said, \u2018She wants the tape back.\u2019 I said, \u2018She\u2019s not getting the tape, OK? This is a dangerous precedent, and we\u2019re not setting it now.\u2019 He said, \u2018If you don\u2019t give her the tape, you\u2019ll never get another interview with her again.\u2019 And I said, \u2018I don\u2019t care.\u2019 I slammed the door.\u201d<\/p>\n Ellen DeGeneres and actress Anne Heche attend ANGLE\u2019s (Access Now for Gay and Lesbian Equality) \u201cHousecleaning 2000\u201d Fundraiser Dinner for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Oct. 2, 1999 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cWe get to the elevators, and [out came] Anne Heche,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m wagging my finger in her face: \u2018You\u2019re not getting the tape.\u2019 She starts screaming at me: \u2018You don\u2019t respect me! You don\u2019t respect my girlfriend!’\u201d<\/p>\n The two women allegedly erupted into a heated shouting match inside Weinstein\u2019s St. Regis hotel suite in\u00a0New York City, where the interview had just taken place. As Heche chain-smoked, Weinstein sprayed her with a lavender scent, she claimed.<\/p>\n Weinstein, exhausted by the back-and-forth, decided to lie down on her bed. She called the move \u201cmy fatal mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just felt like this wind came over me,\u201d said Weinstein. \u201cIt was like a ghost had been in the room. I looked up, and she\u2019s gone. And guess what? My tape is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1998, Weinstein was interviewing Heche for the remake of \u201cPsycho,\u201d co-starring Vince Vaughn. At the time, Heche was dating DeGeneres, but there were whispers she had an on-set romance with the actor, Weinstein claimed. Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n Enraged, Weinstein stormed out and tore through the hotel hallway, threatening to call the police. A panicked studio publicist chased after her, she said, begging her to stand down because \u201cit\u2019ll get in the papers.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfazed, Weinstein kicked open the door to Heche\u2019s suite. She said she found the actress coolly getting her makeup done.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about,\u201d Heche allegedly replied when asked about the missing tape.<\/p>\n Weinstein wrote that by the time police were alerted, Heche and her team were already on a plane heading back to Hollywood. The incident went on to make headlines. At the time, a rep said that Heche \u201cfinished the interview, never left with the tape and doesn\u2019t have it now,\u201d\u00a0Page Six<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n To this day, Weinstein doesn\u2019t know what happened to her tape. But she does have her theories.<\/p>\n \u201cYears later, I was told by a pretty good source that she had instructed this person in her entourage to throw the tape into a New York City sewer,\u201d said Weinstein. \u201cShe seemed to have no recollection of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Heche and Vince Vaughn attend the premiere of \u2018Return to Paradise\u2019 at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, California, on Aug. 10, 1998. Getty Images<\/p>\n Heche\u2019s manager told Fox News Digital in a statement: \u201cThat account is inaccurate.\u00a0It\u2019s disappointing to see untrue narratives circulate at a time when honesty and respect should come first. The focus should be on honoring her memory, not rewriting it to sell books.\u201d<\/p>\n The Emmy winner died in 2022 at age 53 after suffering injuries in a\u00a0Los Angeles<\/a>\u00a0car crash. Her death was ruled accidental.<\/p>\n Weinstein, now retired, said Heche wasn\u2019t the only star to leave her with a story she\u2019d never forget.<\/p>\n