Actress Anne Heche may have been drunk when she engulfed a California house in flames Friday after crashing into it.
An episode of Heche’s podcast, “Better Together,” with cohost Heather Duffy was published Friday, according to a TMZ report. The report noted the episode that featured slurred speech and claims of drinking vodka and wine was later deleted. A Heche representative reportedly claimed the episode had been taped days before it was published.
Posted just hours before she crashed her car into a stranger’s home, after reportedly driving at high speeds along neighboring streets, Heche sounded drunk. Her speech seemed slurred and she talked a lot about drinking during the episode.
She began the podcast by saying they were titling the episode Fingers Crossed because because it was not guaranteed they would make it through the entire broadcast.
“We are sitting with Re:Find,” referring to the brand of artisanal vodka she and Duffy had previously filmed a commercial for. They spoke of the commercial that Heche thought they did not do such a good job in. She added that both hosts had a bottle of Re:Find in front of them.
“We each have a bottle in front of us because our friends sent us a bottle Re:Find!” the actress said.
Heche claimed a doctor informed them vodka was better for them than wine.
“So, we are drinking it,” Heche said in her since-deleted podcast, “with wine chasers.”
The former partner of comedienne Ellen DeGeneres complained she was having a bad day. “I don’t know what happened,” she noted, “sometimes days just suck.”
The TMZ report added accounts of how residents of a neighborhood near where she later crashed witnessed her driving their congested streets at high speeds. One resident taped one of her three passes through the neighborhood before she crashed.
The media outlet said they slowed the video down enough to get a screen shot of a frame that allegedly shows the actress in her car with a bottle in her change tray that resembles a Re:Find vodka bottle.
Law enforcement reportedly did not take blood samples from Heche when she was removed from her car. The report noted concern for her health after suffering severe burns in the crash convinced authorities to prioritize providing medical treatment. Presumably, the hospital will conduct blood draws that should indicate her blood alchohol content.
There is no evidence Heche drank while driving, even if the bottle seen in the photo contains vodka. If her representative is correct about the previous taping of the untimely released video, her episode with heavy drinking may have occurred days before her accident.
Heche is “currently in stable condition,” her podcast partner, Duffy, said Saturday, according to a New York Post report. The house she struck reportedly burned to the ground and is a total loss.
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