If you ask her mom, it's the latter. Nancy Heche and two of Anne's sisters have taken to the Internet to respond to the abuse claims made by Heche in her new memoir, Call Me Crazy. The family members posted messages this week on PreviewPort.com--a Website created by Heche sister Susan Bergman--voicing frustration with the actress's latest version of her story.
"I am trying to find a place for myself in this writing, a place where I as Anne's mother do not feel violated or scandalized," Nancy Heche writes. "I find no place among the lies and blasphemies in the pages of this book."
According to Heche's mom and sisters, the newly married and pregnant actress--once Ellen DeGeneres' paramour--has been inaccurately and unfairly touting the tales of her lunacy and love life, starting with Wednesday's 20/20 sit-down with Barbara Walters.
A spokeswoman for 20/20 says the Heche family had been invited to participate in the program but had declined, stating they would be posting their reactions on the Internet.
The Chicago-based Website is a literary forum founded by Bergman, who is author of the memoir Anonymity, about the secret life of the Heches' father, Don, who died of AIDS. (Bergman was not immediately available for comment Friday.)
It's her father whom Anne Heche claims sexually abused her as a child, leading to years of mental illness. But the actress's mom denies claims that she knew about her daughter's abuse and refused to address it.
One sister, Abigail Heche, does make some allowances for the behavior of her flamboyant celeb sister. As part of a readers discussion on the Website, she said, "It is my opinion that my sister Anne truly believes, at this moment, what she has asserted about our father's past behavior."
But at the same time, she said, "I would like to point out that Anne, in the past, has expressed doubts herself about the accuracy of such memories. Based on my experience and her own expressed doubts, I believe that her memories regarding our father are untrue," she wrote. "And I can state emphatically, regardless of Anne's beliefs, that the assertion that our mother knew about such behavior is absolutely false."
Earlier in the week, Anne's mother Nancy wrote on the Website that Heche has "stopped talking to me. She made the decision to cut off communication."
Heche also has no communication with ex-lover DeGeneres. Earlier this week, when asked by the Associated Press for her reaction to Heche's latest exploits, DeGeneres politely declined to talk about her ex-girlfriend.