Katherine Heigl is setting the record straight (again) about those old rumors she allegedly declined an Emmy nomination for playing Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy.
During a recent appearance on the Let's Be Clear podcast, host Shannen Doherty listed Heigl's "insane" resume and accomplishments, citing her "perseverance as a woman, as an actor," before bringing up the rumors, saying, "I don't know any person except for you that turns down an Emmy nomination."
This prompted Heigl to correct Doherty, saying, "Well, I didn't, and everybody keeps saying that. I didn't turn it down. You know, you have to submit yourself. 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."
Heigl’s decision to eschew Emmys consideration became a highly publicized controversy, in part because she had won Best Supporting Actress at the awards show the year prior, and in part because, at the time, she said in a statement, "I do not feel I was given the material this season to warrant a nomination."
Her comment was seen by some as a slight to the writers, according to a key show insider who told EW at the time, "The show bent over backwards to accommodate her film schedule, and then she criticizes the show for lack of material? It's an ungrateful slap in the face to the very writers responsible for her Emmy win in the first place."
Heigl expressed regret for making that statement to Doherty, saying, "I should have said nothing. I should have said, 'Oh, I forgot [to submit my work],' because it created such a maelstrom that was so unnecessary, and it really was."
She continued, "I was kind of trying to make a bit of a snarky point about my material that year, but I was also just not feeling my material. I didn't think I had anything that warranted even the consideration for a nomination. I just wasn't proud of my work. I would never be so bold or so arrogant to turn down a nomination. I would take that nomination if it came my way. I'd be down. But I just knew there wasn't anything that would really warrant one that year, and I was trying to be honorable, I guess. I was trying to have some integrity. I wasn't trying to be a d---."
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Heigl previously publicly expressed regrets for the situation during an interview on The Howard Stern Show in 2016.
"There was a part of me that thought, because I had won the year before, that I needed juicy, dramatic, emotional material, and I just didn’t have that that season,” Heigl explained. “I think there were 12 series regulars on that show, and everybody deserved their juicy, dramatic, emotional season. I’m not a writer, but I imagine it must be very difficult to do that for everybody.”
Heigl reunited with former costars Ellen Pompeo, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson, and James Pickens Jr. at the Emmys in January to celebrate the longest-running primetime medical drama in TV history. The reunion lacked only Sandra Oh and T.R. Knight to complete Dr. Bailey's (Wilson) original class of interns.
"I haven’t seen Chandra and Jim in like 15 years, I haven’t seen Justin in maybe 10 ... We don’t get to see each other much and these are people that mean a lot to me," Heigl said during EW and People's red carpet pre-show. "I have missed them."