Valerie Bertinelli Addresses Critics of Her Enduring Love for Eddie Van Halen

Valerie Bertinelli, actress and ex-wife of late guitar legend Eddie Van Halen , took to Instagram on the anniversary of his passing with a message for haters.

Bertinelli and Van Halen were married for 26 years from 1981 to 2007, and are the parents of Wolfgang Van Halen .

To mark the sixth anniversary of EVH’s passing on Tuesday, Bertinelli shared a photo of herself and Eddie in a car, with the caption, “Photos may fade, like old photos do, but not the memories and never the love.”

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The photo drew a number of critical comments regarding her continued fondness for Eddie after a contentious marriage in which the guitarist battled alcoholism.

Bertinelli followed the post with a video message, saying, “It does not take long for me to get a lot of pushback when I post a picture of me and Ed. It used to really bother me. It does not, not anymore. Not any longer, because I learned a lot.”

She continued, “So they’ll never quite say the words, ‘You’re not allowed to love your ex-husband,’ but they berate you and berate you for months, make you think you’re crazy until you finally say, ‘OK, fine, I don’t love him.’”

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Bertinelli went on to say, “They will never say, ‘Take that picture down, the one of your ex-husband along with you and your son in better days.’ They’ll never say take it down. But [they’ll say] that you’re obsessed, say all kinds of fucked up shit until you take the picture down. Coercive control is insidious and it’s soul-breaking, and I cannot believe that I fucking fell for it.”

She concluded, “My heart can hold a lot of love. I have a big piece right here that’s got Ed’s name all over it. And Wolfie’s name. And my daughter-in-law. And my mother. And my cats. And my girlfriends. And all the people that I love in my life. My heart can hold it all. And, if I ever fall in love again, I’ll 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. Your heart opens up. Because your heart can hold a lot of love. All of our hearts can. So you can’t bother me. I love Ed. Never stopped loving Ed. And my heart loves a lot. Don’t you wish yours could, too?”

See both posts from Valerie Bertinelli below.

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_Originally reported by [Consequence](https://consequence.net/2026/10/valerie-bertinelli-eddie-van-halen-haters/)._