Katherine Heigl set the record straight on rumors that she turned down an Emmy nomination for her role on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
In 2008, Heigl famously took herself out of the running for an Emmy nomination for playing Izzie Stevens on the popular medical drama.
Sixteen years later, Heigl appeared on the June 28 episode of Shannen Doherty’s podcast “Let’s Be Clear.” When Doherty noted that she didn’t know of anyone in the industry who had turned down an Emmy nomination in their career, Heigl clarified that she “didn’t turn it down.”
“You have to submit yourself,” she explained. “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 said that she had been discussing the incident recently with her mom, and expressed that she had different feelings about her choices more than a decade later.
“I should have said nothing,” she continued. “I should have said, ‘Oh, I forgot,’ because it created such a maelstrom that was so unnecessary, and it really was.”
The actor said the point of her decision was to try to “make a bit of a snarky point” about the work she was given and that she was “just not feeling” the material that season.
“I didn’t think I had anything that warranted even the consideration for a nomination,” she said. “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.”
Heigl said she knew that “there wasn’t anything that would really warrant” an Emmy nomination that year, adding, “I was trying to be honorable, I guess.”
“I was trying to have some integrity,” she continued. “I wasn’t trying to be a d—.”
In 2008, Heigl shared her reasoning at the time in a statement, saying, “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention.”
“In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials,” the statement continued.
In June 2023, when she appeared on Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series with former co-star Ellen Pompeo, Heigl addressed some of the vocal stances she made in the 2000s.
These moments included negative comments she made about “Knocked Up,” in which she starred opposite Seth Rogen, as well as brining up the working conditions on “Grey’s Anatomy,” such as the show’s 17-hour work days.
Heigl told Pompeo that her comments felt “justified” during the discussion, explaining, “I got on my soapbox and I had some things to say, and I felt really passionate about this stuff. I felt really strongly.”
“I felt so strongly that I also got a megaphone out on my soapbox,” she added. “There was no part of me that imagined a bad reaction. I felt really justified in how I felt about it and where I was coming from.”
After spending a decade away from the award show, Heigl returned to the Emmys in January.
She reunited with her former “Grey’s Anatomy” co-stars, including Pompeo, Justin Chambers, James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson. The beloved group presented the nominees for best supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie and paid tribute to the long-running medical drama.
