The Controversial Conspiracy Theory Surrounding Anne Heche's Death

On August 14, 2022, nine days after actress Anne Heche was severely injured in a car wreck, she was removed from life support at a Los Angeles hospital. Since then, social media conspiracy theories have questioned her official cause of death, according to the Daily Beast.  Some online conspiracy theorists say Heche was killed because of two movies she starred in: 2008's Toxic Skies," and the 2022 Lifetime movie, "Girl in Room 13." Both movies seem to deal with topical issues common in QAnon conspiracy circles, which include theories of secret child-sex operations and that the COVID-19 pandemic is fake.

The conjecture is that "Room 13" could relate to the late convicted pedophile, disgraced financier, and alleged sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. "Toxic Skies," meanwhile, resonates with other online conspiracy theories because it's about a chemtrails-induced pandemic. Because of those starring roles, unconfirmed theories spread online that Heche was murdered in a cover-up or to suppress information she learned while those movies were in production.

Two days after Heche was taken off life support, a Lifetime representative told Reuters that "Room 13" is based on true stories and child sex trafficking but is not related to Epstein. Meanwhile, "Toxic Skies" came out in 2008, 12 years before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Not to mention, the threat of the virus has been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization, among other experts and authorities. 

In the fictional movie "Toxic Skies, the fake global pandemic is spread through airplane contrails, the same thing many online conspiracy theorists call "chemtrails," which they say contain different chemicals or active agents. According to those unconfirmed theories, the government, a covert group, or an intelligence agency seeks to spread disease, poison the population, or possibly control the environment through chemtrails, depending on the version of the story, per BBC News. Most online conspiracy theories involving chemtrails point toward photo and video evidence that jet contrails are thicker and more common than they once were, but a 2016 study from the University of California, Irvine, and the Carnegie Institute concluded contrails are mostly water vapor, and their increased prevalence around the world is because more planes are flying at higher altitudes than before, as well as changing atmospheric conditions, among other explanations. 

Also according to PolitiFact, some Anne Heche-related conspiracy theories say the Illuminati pulled the strings behind her accident or somehow caused her death. The actual Illuminati started in 18th century Bavaria as an Enlightenment-era group that sought to establish a new religion based on reason while spreading other progressive ideals. That version of the group only lasted a decade before it was disbanded, according to BBC Travel. From around the 1970s, though, theories emerged that the organization endured and remained a secretive force behind world events.

From chemtrails to the Illuminati and Jeffrey Epstein, Anne Heche conspiracy theories were fueled in part by footage from the scene of the car wreck that seemed to show Heche was still alive as emergency medical first responders attended to her, according to VICE News. On August 8, 2022, KTLA reported that Heche was conscious when her stretcher was put in the ambulance after the accident, and at first, she was listed in stable condition before she fell into a coma. According to KTLA, a Heche representative said, "Shortly after the accident, Anne Heche became unconscious, slipping into a coma and is in critical condition. She had significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention."

On August 15, 2022, Reuters reported Heche was declared legally dead several days earlier but kept on life support until an organ recipient could be found. The 53-year-old actress was believed to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the accident happened on August 5. Though she had reportedly used illicit substances like cocaine, her toxicology report revealed she was not under the influence that day, the Los Angeles Times reported. Conspiracy theories aside, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office declared Heche's death accidental, the Times wrote.