Katherine Heigl is making it clear that she reportedly turned down an Emmy nomination for her work as Dr. Isobel “Izzie” Stevens in Grey’s Anatomy.
During an appearance on Let’s be clear podcast, presenter Shannen Doherty was criticizing Heigl’s impressive resume and applauding her “perseverance as a woman, as an actress,” before adding that she doesn’t know anyone in Hollywood who has ever turned down an Emmy nomination.
This has been the narrative since 2008, when Heigl was criticized at the time for apparently inferred that she turned down a nomination for her role on the ABC medical drama. At the time, she said, “I don’t feel like I was given the material this season to warrant a nomination.”
After all these years, the 45-year-old actress is clearing up that rumor.
“Well, I didn’t (turn down an Emmy nomination) and everyone keeps saying that. I didn’t turn it down,” she said. “You know, you have to submit. You have to submit your work and then they deliberate and then they decide if they want to give you a nomination. I just didn’t submit my work that year… I should have said nothing. I should have said : ‘Oh, I forgot (to submit my work),’ because it created such an unnecessary whirlwind, and it really was.”
She continued, “I was trying to make a little bit of a sarcastic statement about my stuff that year, but I also wasn’t feeling my stuff. I just wasn’t proud of my work. I would never be so bold or so arrogant as to turn down a nomination. I would accept this nomination if that happened. anything that really warranted one that year, and I was trying to be honorable.
In 2010, tensions between her and creator Shonda Rhimes were so high that in March of that year, they reached an agreement to immediately release her from her contract. The January 21, 2010 episode marked her final appearance on the show as Izzie. She would later make a surprise guest appearance in season 16.
Last year, Heigl and her Grey’s Anatomy co-star Ellen Pompeo sat down for VarietySeries “Actors about Actors” and discussed her controversial exit. Heigl admitted that, looking back now, she was “so naive” in how she handled the situation.
“There was no part of me that imagined a negative reaction,” she said at the time. “I felt really vindicated in how I felt about it and where I was coming from. I’ve spent most of my life – I think most women do – in this people-pleasing mode. you really displeased everyone. I didn’t mean to do that, but I had some things to say and I didn’t think I would get such a strong reaction.”
Heigl recently gathered with her co-stars, of all places, at the Primetime Emmy Awards in January. Before taking the stage, she spoke to ET about the highly anticipated reunion.
“It’s tough,” she admits of getting the cast together. “I flew in from Utah on Sunday and then came here and did a rehearsal with them.”
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