Katherine Heigl Says She ‘Wasn’t Trying To Be A Dick’ By Refusing Emmy Consideration For ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Role

In a candid conversation on Shannen Doherty‘s Let’s Be Clear podcast, acclaimed actress Katherine Heigl opened up about the controversy around her decision not to submit herself for an Emmy nomination in 2008 in her tenure on the hit medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

Heigl, who had previously won an Emmy for her portrayal of Dr. Izzie Stevens, found herself at the center of a media storm after her comments regarding the lack of material she received that season. However, the actress now seeks to set the record straight and dispel the notion that she had outright “turned down” the nomination.

“I didn’t turn it down,” Heigl clarified. “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.”

The actress further elaborated on her motivations, “I was trying to have some integrity. I wasn’t trying to be a dick.” Heigl acknowledged that her remarks at the time “created such a maelstrom” and admitted that perhaps she “should have said nothing” instead.

Heigl recalled her frustration with the material that year.

“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,” she said. “I just wasn’t proud of my work.”

However, the actress was quick to clarify that she would never have the “arrogance” to turn down a nomination outright. “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.”

Grey’s Anatomy producers said that the show had bent over backward to accommodate her film schedule.

The incident was one of many that led to her being called “difficult” and “hard to work with” throughout her career.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Heigl expressed anger at being labeled a “problem actor.”

“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. “What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? Now, I’m 42, and that s— pisses me off.”

Heigl is moving forward in her acting career, appearing next in an upcoming comedy alongside John Travolta and Christopher Walken.