Anne Heche’s “Better Together” podcast co-host, Heather Duffy, is still processing the loss of her “beautiful friend”.
On Wednesday, Duffy wrote an emotional tribute to the 53-year-old actress, who died earlier this month from injuries sustained in a car accident.
“I had to take a moment to process the deep loss of my beautiful friend with the kindest soul I’ve known,” Duffy wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the two smiling, standing back to back.
“Anne was happy despite all the challenges she faced in her life. She was truthful despite being in a company that was fake. Spreading love and kindness in the world was the most important thing to her, even if sometimes the world didn’t return it.”
Duffy then praised her friend for the “courage” and “sacrifice” it took to come out as bisexual in the late ’90s.
“Her public stance for equality has enabled many LGBTQ+ people around the world to envision a future where they can live in their truth, which was more important to her than anything else,” she continued. “We’ve come a long way because of her truth, courage and kindness at that time 25 years ago when she chose to bring a woman as her date to the premiere of ‘Volcano’.”
The late actress shocked Hollywood when she took her then-girlfriend Ellen DeGeneres to the drama’s premiere in 1997 after being warned it could negatively impact her career.
The podcast host says she wishes the media could have recognized how “hard” they judged her for standing up for what she believed in while she was alive.
“She was way ahead of us, and we’re all catching up. Fly free, my friend. This world was never meant for someone as beautiful as you,’ she concluded.
Duffy isn’t the only person from the couple’s podcast to speak out since Heche’s tragic death. Last week, Ryan Tillotson, the podcast’s producer, said the Emmy winner was nothing short of “irreplaceable.”
“More than a beloved host, Anne was my friend, collaborator and a damn fine actress. Anne brought life to every room she entered with her tremendous energy and welcoming presence,” he wrote on Instagram alongside a throwback photo of the star.
The ‘Brave’ actress never regained consciousness after suffering ‘severe anoxic brain injury’ from a fiery car accident on Aug. 5.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Heche was reportedly under the influence of cocaine when she drove her blue Mini Cooper into a Los Angeles home.
The police investigation into the wreckage came to a halt after her death. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office revealed that her official cause of death was from smoke inhalation and the thermal injuries she sustained in the crash.
Heche is survived by her 13-year-old son Atlas with Canadian actor James Tupper and a 20-year-old son, Homer, with her ex-husband, Coleman Laffoon.