Katherine Heigl Finally Responds to the Huge Backlash Against Her ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Comments
Former Grey's Anatomy co-stars Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo have reunited for Variety's “Actors on Actors” series; and this time, the Firefly Lane actor opened up about feeling “so naive” when it came to publicly discussing her concerns about the long-running medical drama years back.
A refresher: In 2008, Katherine stirred up controversy when she withdrew her name from consideration at the Emmys after winning the previous year. Her reasoning? At the time, she said she “did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant” an Emmy nod. This incident—along with several others that reportedly made her seem “ungrateful” and “difficult”—resulted in a negative public characterization that followed her for many years post-Grey's.
“I got on my soapbox and I had some things to say, and I felt really passionate about this stuff. I felt really strongly,” Katherine said during her recent convo with Ellen. “I felt so strongly that I also got a megaphone out on my soapbox. 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.”
The actor then discussed how she—and many other women—have spent their entire lives in “people-pleasing mode” and how it's therefore “disconcerting” when one fails to do that and instead upsets everyone: “It was not my intention to do so, but I had some things to say, and I didn’t think I was going to get such a strong reaction.”
Katherine also revealed how the success she had in her role as Izzie Stevens on Grey’s Anatomy gave her “a false sense of confidence.”
“It was rooted in something that couldn’t and maybe wouldn’t always last for me. So then I started getting real mouthy, because I did have a lot to say, and there were certain boundaries and things that I was not okay with being crossed. I didn’t know how to fight that,” she confessed.
Despite leaving the medical drama in 2010, Katherine was followed by the criticism for years after, which ultimately made her question her own sense of self: “I was in my late 20s. It took me until probably my mid- to late 30s to really get back to tuning out all of the noise and going, ‘But who are you? Are you this bad person? Are you ungrateful? Are you unprofessional? Are you difficult?’” She clarified, “Because I was confused! I thought maybe I was. I literally believed that version, and felt such shame for such a long time, and then had to go, ‘Wait. Who am I listening to? I’m not even listening to myself. I know who I am.’”
Now more than ever, the celeb has regained confidence and restored her sense of self, gushing, “I think for me, I just felt that 40 was freedom, because I didn’t have to be the young, sweet, naive, people-pleasing ingénue anymore. I had outgrown it.”
Love this for her!
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