Actor Valerie Bertinelli is defending herself against online haters who criticized her recent tribute to her late ex-husband, Eddie Van Halen.
Bertinelli doubled down on her recent Instagram post in honor of the sixth anniversary of the rock iconโs death Oct. 6. The tribute post prompted some fans to accuse her of holding on to the old relationship. But in a new video shared Oct. 7, Bertinelli told her critics that โyou canโt bother me.โ
โI love Ed. Never stopped loving Ed. And my heart loves a lot,โ she said in the clip. โDonโt you wish yours could too?โ
Bertinelliโs throwback photo featured the one-time couple, sharing a laugh in a car.
โPhotos may fade, like old photos do, but not the memories and never the love,โ the 66-year-old wrote in the postโs caption.
The former โOne Day at a Timeโ and โHot in Clevelandโ star was married to Van Halen from 1981 until 2007. She filed for divorce in 2005 after being separated for several years. The musician went on to marry Janie Liszewski in 2009, with whom he remained married until his death. Meanwhile, Bertinelli married financial planner Tom Vitale in 2011. They divorced in 2022.
Bertinelli, who shares a son with the rocker, musician Wolfgang Van Halen, 35, hit back at the criticisms in the new video that was captioned, โStrap in haters, letโs go for a little ride.โ She told fans that she gets โpushbackโ any time she posts about her late ex.
Bertinelli, who remained close with Eddie Van Halen after their divorce โย and was at the rockerโs bedside when he died in 2020 after a 20-year battle with cancerโ said often critics tell her sheโs โnot allowed to loveโ her former husband.
Those critics, she said, โberate you and berate you for months, make you think youโre crazy, until you finally say, โOK, fine, I donโt love him.โโ
The scorn has caused her to remove images of the late music legend from her account, Bertinelli said.
โThey will never say, โTake that picture down, the one of your ex-husband along with you and your son in better days,โโ she shared. โBut they say that youโre obsessed, say all kinds of f—– up s— until you take the picture down,โ she said.
Bertinelli revealed that the musician, whom she began dating when she was 20, still holds a โbig pieceโ of her heart.
โIf I ever fall in love again, Iโll make room in my heart for that person, without it touching the love I have for Ed, my son, my daughter-in-law, all the people that I love,โ she said. โYour heart opens up. Because your heart can hold a lot of love. All of our hearts can.โ
