Katherine Heigl insisted to Shannon Doherty on her “Let’s Be Clear” podcast that she would never disrespect the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences by rejecting an Emmys award. Still, she did nothing to walk back comments that would appear to bite the hand that fed her — namely, Shonda Rhimes and the show that catapulted Heigl’s career and turned her into a superstar.
Heigl won an Emmy for her role in “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2007, but fast forward one year, and she was nowhere to be seen on the red carpet or nominations list. “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,” she announced in a statement (via The New York Times).
Not surprisingly, Rhimes took the criticism to heart, and didn’t hold back regarding her feelings about Heigl, accusing her of being a diva and a nightmare to work with. “I may have said a couple of things you didn’t like, but then that escalated to ‘she’s ungrateful,’ then that escalated to ‘she’s difficult,’ and that escalated to ‘she’s unprofessional,'” Heigl said of Rhimes’ denunciation in an interview with The Washington Post in January 2021. “What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? Now, I’m 42, and that s*** p***** me off.”
