Friday, 8 June 2007

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Anne Heche's ex claims she's 'mentally unstable'

Estranged husband Coley Laffoon wants custody of son Homer

In the latest salvo in Anne Heche's bitter divorce battle, her estranged husband Coley Laffoon questions Heche's parenting skills and accuses the actress of resorting to lies to win custody of – and destroy his relationship with – their 5-year-old son Homer.

In an L.A. Superior Court filing released Thursday, Laffoon calls Heche's previous declaration – in which she insists she has a close relationship with her son despite her show-business obligations – "replete with blatant falsehoods."

According to the papers, "[Heche's] credibility should also be called into question as a result of her mental instability which was highly publicized in her [2001] autobiography entitled Call Me Crazy."

Laffoon, 33, a former videographer who married Heche in 2001, maintains he has always been Homer's primary caretaker. Now, he says, in an attempt to gain full custody of their son Heche, 38, is "desperately trying to throw mud against the wall hoping that something will divert the eyes of the Court away from the true facts of this case."

The legal documents, which contain declarations from friends and nannies praising Laffoon's relationship with his son, detail incidents including several in which Laffoon says Heche was drunk and belligerent.

Laffoon's declaration also claims Heche allowed her son to sleep in bed with her and new boyfriend (Men in Trees costar) James Tupper, breaking a previous agreement with Laffoon not to tell Homer that Tupper was her boyfriend.

The filing seeks to refute many of Heche's earlier claims – among them that Laffoon frequents strip clubs, plays poker and ping-pong and watches online porn.

"The truth is that [Heche] loves to play poker, too," Laffoon states, describing the former couple's regular Thursday "Heche-Laffoon poker nights."

Answering allegations that he had a penchant for porn, Laffoon claims: "I have never been preoccupied with sexually graphic material...[Heche] and I occasionally watched porn when we were together.

As for the strip clubs, Laffoon states that the last time he visited a strip club was with Heche, Tupper and Tupper's then-wife, as well as several Trees cast members. "I did not know at that time that [Heche] was having an affair with James, nor did James' wife," he says in the filing."

Heche's rep declined to comment .