Ellen and Anne were the Brad and Angelina of the late 1990's. They seemed to turn up everywhere and photos of the "It Couple" seemed to appear daily. Perhaps the media's fascination was due to the novelty back then of an out, same-sex celebrity couple. Ellen and Anne were together for three years and announced their break-up on August 21, 2000.
Heche, 11 years DeGeneres' junior, claimed she was never truly a lesbian and shortly after their break-up married a man. (She had also dated a string of men before her relationship with DeGeneres.) The end of that relationship also got attention because of a nasty child custody fight in which Heche was portrayed as being mentally unstable. The media had a field day with Heche and her tabloid-worthy troubles. Her 2001 memoir was titled, somewhat appropriataely, Call Me Crazy.
DeGeneres' career has skyrocketed since her split with Heche. She's hosted the Emmy's and Academy Awards; been a judge on American Idol; was the voice of the fish Dory in the animated hit movie Finding Nemo; been a spokesperson for American Express and Cover Girl cosmetics; and her Daytime talk show has been on the air since 2003. Since 2004 she's been in a relationship with actress Portia de Rossi - which has also gotten its share of publicity - but not nearly as much as the relationship with Heche.
Since the break up Heche's career has been spent largely on TV, including roles in Nip/Tuck, HBO's Hung and the short-lived ABC series Men in Trees. She also appeared in the revival of the Broadway musical Twenthieth Century, which earned her a Tony nomination. She's presently in a relationship with her Men in Trees co-star Justin Tupper (pictured, left) who she had a child with two years ago.
(For a previous post about Ellen: "Yep I'm Gay")
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