Ione Skye, 54, Reveals She Slept with Costar John Cusack — and Other Juicy Revelations from Her Memoir (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Joshua Blanchard/Getty; Mark Sagliocco/Getty

Joshua Blanchard/Getty; Mark Sagliocco/Getty

ActressIone Skye, 54, is an open book in her debut memoirSay Everything.(Out March 4).

The delightfully juicy tomedetails everything from theSay Anythingstar’s bohemian childhood, her fraught relationship with her father, ‘Mellow Yellow’ singer Donovan and tons of famous friends likeRiver Phoenix,Keanu Reeves,Sofia Coppola,Madonnaand her first husband, Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz.

“I’m a little nervous,” Skye tells PEOPLE of name-checking so many celebs in the book. But she also says that at her age, she’s found peace with telling the truth about her life and career.

“I think as you get older, you feel freer just taking chances creatively and not worrying so much about everybody being happy,” she says. “Or worrying about looking like a fool.”

Ione Skye is releasing her memoir Say Everything on March 4.Rodin Banica/WWD/Getty; Gallery Books

Rodin Banica/WWD/Getty; Gallery Books

“I definitely don’t want to hurt anyone. But some people I named in the book have read it, and luckily everyone has loved it.”

One of those readers? HerSay AnythingcostarJohn Cusack. Skye had always maintained that while they had crushes on each other during filming, they never hooked up on set. In the book, she divulges that they eventuallydidsleep together, albeit years later.

“I had to get it out of my system,” she writes in the book, of getting together with him after her divorce from her first husband, Adam Horovitz.

She says she allowed Cusack to read a draft of her memoir, and afterward, he texted her: “You made the experience sound so meh! It wasn’t ‘meh’ for me,” he told her.

“I was like, I’m telling a story, and it was more about how all of our chemistry was in our working together and stimulating each other’s minds, not sleeping together!” Skye says, adding with a laugh, “I felt a little bad, but, oh well.”

John Cusack and Ione Sky in Say Anything.

Skye, who began acting at age 16, also reveals other crushes she had on costars, including her longtime friendRiver Phoenix, with whom she starred in1988’sA Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.

“River ended up being a brother to me, but I remember at the time thinking, ‘Oh I’m in love with him!’ I couldn’t wait to do my kissing scene with him. He was just delicious.'”

Skye also opens up about meeting and falling forHorovitzwhen she was 20, and what it was like being part of the “It Couple” of the early ’90s.

Ione Skye attends screening of “Say Anything…” 30th Anniversary ; Adam Horowitz ‘Mistress America’ film premiere.Nicholas Hunt/Getty; Gregory Pace/BEI/Shutterstock

Nicholas Hunt/Getty; Gregory Pace/BEI/Shutterstock

The duo got married in 1992, but during their union, Skye discovered her bisexuality and entered into a series of affairs, including one with model Jenny Shimizu, the author reveals. They eventually divorced in 2000, and Horovitz later married Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna.

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“I wrote to Adam,” Skye says, of letting him know he’d be in the book. “He’s private, but also such a big part of my story so he couldn’tnotbe in it.”

One person who she knows won’t have any issue with the book is her husband of 15 years, Aussie rocker Ben Lee. (The two share daughter Goldie, 15, and Skye is mom to daughter Kate, 24, with her ex David Netto.)

Jokes and first-time author jitters aside, Skye just hopes that people will have as much fun reading her story as she did writing it.

“It’s almost like motherhood, in that you know it’s going to be a huge experience, but you don’t know how big until you get there,” she says of the three-year undertaking.

“But it’s one of my favorite projects I’ve ever done. I thought it would be kind of just annoying and difficult, but I ended up loving it. And yes, I do care about what others will think. But I also have the feeling that everything will be okay.”

Say Everythingis available now, wherever books are sold.

source: people.com