It's Over for Anne and Ellen
August 20 -- Celeb sweethearts Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres have broken up.
The bummer news leaked to numerous media outlets after the same-sex couple issued a joint statement to the New York Daily News Saturday. It read, "Unfortunately, we have decided to end our relationship. It is an amicable parting, and we greatly value the three and a half years we have spent together."
Heche, 31, and DeGeneres, 42, added that they hoped the public would respect their privacy during the difficult separation.
The fair-haired couple recently completed DeGeneres' cross-country stand-up comedy tour, which Heche lensed for an HBO special. In April, Heche directed DeGeneres and actress Sharon Stone in the HBO series If These Walls Could Talk 2. The two leading ladies portrayed a lesbian couple trying to have a baby — something Heche and DeGeneres had been discussing with increasing frequency.
No third party came between the lovers, a source told the Daily News. "It was a mutual breakup," another pal said. "They're both very, very upset."
DeGeneres made TV history when she came out of the closet on her former sitcom, Ellen, back in 1997. She was the first openly gay TV character, and her honesty forever changed her career — and her personal life.
Once DeGeneres and Heche publicly announced their romance, the pressure increased. Heche claims that she began receiving fewer movie offers, while her partner's popular show was canceled just a year after its groundbreaking broadcast. DeGeneres also eschewed the burden of representing gays in Hollywood, stating, "I never wanted to be 'the lesbian actress.'"
Sources told the Daily News that DeGeneres is now living in the couple's Hollywood home, while Heche is reportedly staying with friends.
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