Former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres shared a few words about her ex’s fiery crash and hospitalization for the first time in a brief interview.
Anne Heche, who DeGeneres dated from 1997 to 2000, is currently in a coma following a serious car crash on Aug. 5.
DeGeneres, 64, was approached Monday by a Daily Mail photographer in Santa Barbara, Calif., who asked about Heche’s condition.
“We’re not in touch with each other, so I wouldn’t know,” DeGeneres replied before adding, “I don’t want anyone to be hurt.”
“It was quite a dangerous accident that happened, wasn’t it?” the cameraman asked.
“Sure was,” DeGeneres said as she headed into her car.
DeGeneres is the latest celebrity to react to Heche’s accident.
Alec Baldwin, a frequent co-star of Heche’s, shared a video on Instagram on Saturday where he wished Heche a speedy recovery.
“There’s not a lot of women I’ve worked with that are brave in the way that Anne is brave,” Baldwin said. “I love you Anne, I love you and I think you’re such a talented person and I hope everything is OK, I hope you come through this.”
“My heart goes out to you,” Baldwin added. “I’m sending you all my love.”
Rosanna Arquette tweeted her best wishes to Heche on the day of her crash, writing, “Anne Heche is in the hospital severely burned from a car accident this is really tragic. Pray for her.”
Heche, 53, remains in critical condition after she fell unconscious shortly after crashing her blue Mini Cooper into a Los Angeles home, igniting a fire that required 59 firefighters to extinguish.
Michael McConnell of Zero Gravity Management, which represents Heche, told Reuters the actor was still comatose and connected to a breathing machine on Monday. No updates on her condition have been given since then.
McConnell also told the outlet that Heche has “significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention.”
According to celebrity news website TMZ, Heche had earlier crashed into the garage of another apartment building nearby before fleeing the scene.
She is currently under investigation for misdemeanour DUI and hit and run, L.A. Police Department officer Annie Hernandez told CNN on Monday.
The home struck by Heche’s car was destroyed and red-tagged by the L.A. Fire Department, meaning it was deemed unsafe for habitation.
The resident, Lynne Mishele, was home at the time of the crash and survived with no injuries. A GoFundMe page was started for her to “help Lynne start over.”
The GoFundMe’s US$100,000 goal has been exceeded by over $30,000.
A native of Ohio, Heche first came to prominence on the NBC soap opera Another World from 1987 to 1991. She won a Daytime Emmy Award for the role.
— With files from Global News’ Sarah Do Couto
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