Retired producer claims Anne Heche threw interview tape in NYC sewer over rumor

Anne Heche not only avoided the rumors; He reportedly took matters into his own hands following his alleged heated confrontation with Fran Weinstein.

The former “Entertainment Tonight” producer learned the hard way how the late actress would go to great lengths to preserve her romance with Ellen DeGeneres. Weinstein wrote in a memoir: “Tortured Soles” It tells the story of the rich and famous chasing high heels behind velvet ropes.

In 1998, Weinstein was interviewing Heche for the remake of “Psycho” starring Vince Vaughn. Weinstein claimed that Heche was with DeGeneres at that time, but there were rumors that she had a love affair with the actress on the set.

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“After asking these cursory questions, I asked him, ‘How fun was it to reunite with Vince Vaughn?'” Weinstein told Fox News Digital. I asked.” “Because they had made a movie before this. And he said, ‘Oh, that was really fun. It was great.’ Then his eyes opened like pits, because he saw that I was going further.”

“And I said, ‘There were rumors that you were in a part when we were making the movie,'” Weinstein recalled. “Oh my God. His jaw dropped to the floor and he said, ‘I don’t want you to talk about it. I don’t want anyone to know about it. I don’t want my girlfriend to know about it.'”

Anne Heche attends the premiere of “Return to Heaven” at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, California. (SGranitz/WireImage)

“He had just gotten together with Ellen DeGeneres,” Weinstein said. “Their romance was new and I guess he didn’t want anything to muddy the waters, shall we say.”

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Heche repeatedly told Weinstein that she did not want to discuss the rumors. The doyen of entertainment news assured him that they would move on. They talked for another 15 minutes about Heche’s Christmas plans with DeGeneres. The interview was over, or so Weinstein thought.

“He gets up, walks to the door, we say thank you and say goodbye,” Weinstein said. “He turned his head and said to me: ‘I don’t want you to use the stuff about me and Vince Vaughn.’ ‘No problem,’ I said. I told you I wouldn’t do it. Have a nice day.”

Anne Heche stands in the shower in a scene from the 1998 movie “Psycho.” (Universal/Getty Images)

“The crew and I are packing up now and I hear a knock on the door. The studio publicist. ‘Fran wants the tape,’ he says. ‘What?’ I said. This is not happening. We don’t do this. This is my notebook. Tell him everything is okay. I continue. ‘I don’t use Vince Vaughn stuff.’ “Okay, I’ll tell him,” he said.

Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn attend the premiere of the movie “Return to Paradise” at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, California on August 10, 1998. (Ron Galella Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images)

“We’re still trying to recover,” Weinstein continued. “The next thing I know, there’s another knock on the door. Now it’s his personal publicist. He said, ‘He wants the tape back.’ And I said, ‘He’s not taking the tape, okay? That’s a dangerous precedent, and we’re not doing that now.’ ‘If you don’t give him the tape, you’ll never be able to interview him again,’ he said. And I said, ‘I don’t care.’ I slammed the door.”

Fran Weinstein’s “Tortured Soles: High Heels, Low Expectations, and the Hollywood Gossip Mill” is available now. (Atmosphere Press)

“We get to the elevators and [out came] “Anne Heche,” he said. “I wag my finger in her face: ‘You can’t get the tape.’ He starts shouting at me: ‘You don’t respect me! You don’t respect my girlfriend!”

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Actress Ellen Degeneres (left) and her girlfriend, actress Anne Heche (right), arrive at Mann’s Village Theater in Westwood, Calif., for the premiere of the action thriller “Sphere.” The film was directed by Barry Levinson. (Hector Mata/AFP)

The two women allegedly went to Weinstein’s St. Louis hotel in New York City, where the interview had just taken place. Regis got into a heated shouting fight in his hotel suite. Heche claimed that Weinstein sprayed her with lavender scent while she was chain-smoking.

Tired of the back and forth, Weinstein decided to lie down on his bed. He called the move “my fatal mistake”.

Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche Honor PETA Animal Rights Movement at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California. (KMazur/WireImage)

“I felt this wind coming over me,” Weinstein said. “It was like a ghost had entered the room. I looked up and he was gone. Guess what? My tape was gone.”

Actress Anne Heche is interviewed by host Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” on June 19, 1998. (Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal)

Enraged, Weinstein stormed out and tore up the hotel hallway, threatening to call the police. He said he chased after a panicked studio publicist and begged him to withdraw because it would “get in the papers.”

Weinstein was not impressed and kicked open the door to Heche’s suite. He said he found the actress applying her makeup nonchalantly.

Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres split in 2000 after nearly three and a half years together. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

When asked about the missing tape, Heche allegedly replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

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Actress Anne Heche poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, California, in April 1998. (Aaron Rapoport/Getty Images)

Weinstein wrote that Heche and his crew were already on a plane returning to Hollywood when police were alerted. The incident made headlines. A representative said at the time that Heche “finished the interview, never released the tape, and does not currently have it.” Page Six reported.

To this day, Weinstein doesn’t know what happened to his tape. But he has his theories.

Anne Heche died following a car accident in Los Angeles in 2022. (Amy Sussman/Unknown)

“Years later a pretty good source told me that he instructed this person in his entourage to throw the tape into the sewers of New York City,” Weinstein said. “He didn’t seem to remember anything.”

Heche’s manager said in a statement to Fox News Digital: “This account is inaccurate. It is disappointing to see untrue narratives circulating at a time when integrity and respect should come first. The focus should be on honoring her memory, not rewriting to sell books.”

Actress Anne Heche poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, California, in April 1998. (Aaron Rapoport/Getty Images)

The Emmy winner died in 2022 at the age of 53 following injuries sustained in a car accident in Los Angeles. His death was ruled accidental.

Weinstein, now retired, said Heche wasn’t the only star who left him with a story he’ll never forget.

Judy Sheindlin attends the annual Power of Love gala hosted by Keep Memory Alive at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on February 22, 2025 in Las Vegas. (For Keeping the Memory Alive Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)

In the mid-’90s, Judith Sheindlin of “Judge Judy” fame opened the doors of her Tudor-style home in Connecticut to “Entertainment Tonight.” By then, Weinstein had interviewed the legendary TV judge countless times, and the pair became friends over the years, bonding over bagels.

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Judge Judy Sheindlin appears on the set of her television show in Los Angeles, California, on December 2, 1997. (Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images)

But this time, when the cameras stopped rolling, Weinstein casually asked her: “Don’t you know anyone you can set me up with?”

Sheindlin responded, “Frannie, you don’t need a man. I’ll show you what you need. Follow me.”

Judge Judy, Judith Sheindlin, poses for a portrait on February 14, 1997 in Los Angeles, California. (Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

As they walked toward Sheindlin’s “incredibly luxurious bedroom,” Weinstein said he thought to himself: “Dear God, please don’t let this be some weird sex toy.”

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Sheindlin climbed onto a step stool and pulled up a “shoebox-shaped hopper.” He threw her onto the Italian sheets and pulled out a .32-caliber pistol.

“Frannie, this is what you need,” Sheindlin told Weinstein. “[My husband] Jerry was away for the weekend. I kept this under my pillow and slept like a baby.”

Judith “Judge Judy” Sheindlin and her husband Judge Jerry Sheindlin pose backstage during the Broadway production of the comedy “The Performers” at the Longacre Theater in New York City on November 10, 2012. (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)

“I thought, ‘OK, no more questions, your honor,'” Weinstein said with a chuckle.

For the record, Weinstein did not follow her advice.

Judge Judy Sheindlin is interviewed on the set of “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on October 4, 2016. (Lloyd Bishop/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Sheindlin’s representative for comment. he said Page Six“I don’t remember anything about the incident that Fran Weinstein is talking about. But if I did, I’d want to take credit for it; that’s great!”