Rep Confirms Heche's Death as Exes Grieve

Actress dies after being taken off life support Sunday
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2022 10:28 PM CDT
Updated Aug 15, 2022 5:19 AM CDT
Anne Heche to Be Taken Off Life Support Today
Actress Anne Heche, left, is joined by husband Coleman Laffoon as she arrives for the Emmy Awards Sept. 19, 2004, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

(Updated with confirmation of her death.) A rep for Anne Heche has confirmed her death after the actress was "peacefully taken off life support" Sunday when a recipient was found for her organs, reports the Washington Post. As Entertainment Weekly notes, her death comes days after she was declared brain dead following a Los Angeles car crash Aug. 5. Her exes and other loved ones have been sharing tributes to the 53-year-old:

  • Coleman "Coley" Laffoon: The 48-year-old real estate advisor was married to Heche from 2001 to 2009, and shares 20-year-old son Homer with her, People reports. "I loved her and I miss her, and I'm always going to," a visibly emotional Laffoon says in an Instagram video. "I like to think she's free, free from pain and enjoying or experiencing whatever is next in her journey." He added that their son is grieving but would be OK.
  • Homer Laffoon: The 20-year-old shared his own statement, per CNN. "Hopefully my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom," he said, describing what he's feeling as "a deep, wordless sadness."

  • James Tupper: The 56-year-old actor, who was with Heche until 2018 and shares 13-year-old son Atlas with her, wrote simply, "love you forever" with a broken heart emoji, People reports.
  • Ellen DeGeneres: The 64-year-old dated Heche from 1997 to 2000, People reports. "This is a sad day," she tweeted Friday. "I'm sending Anne's children, family and friends all of my love."
  • Colleagues and friends: Good Morning America rounds up other tributes from people who worked with Heche, including her Dancing With the Stars partner, here.
  • Poignant words: Page Six recalls that in 2017 while doing press for a film called The Last Word and asked what she'd like her last words to be or what she'd like to be remembered for, Heche said: "Hopefully that I made my children happy … gave them a life that they love."
(More Anne Heche stories.)

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