Katherine Heigl sets the record straight on 'turning down' Grey's Anatomy Emmy nomination in 2008: 'I wasn't trying to be a d***!'

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Katherine Heigl recently addressed the longstanding rumor that she rejected an Emmy nomination in 2008 for her role on Grey's Anatomy.

The actress  — who won an Emmy playing Izzie Stevens on the hit medical drama in 2007 — cleared the air during her recent appearance on Shannen Doherty’s Let's Be Clear podcast.

'I don’t know any person except for you that turns down an Emmy nomination,' Doherty said, to which Heigl chimed in, 'Well, I didn’t, and everybody keeps saying that. I didn’t turn it down.' 

'You have to submit yourself,' she continued. '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.' 

'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**k.' 

Katherine Heigl recently addressed the longstanding rumor that she rejected an Emmy nomination in 2008 for her role on Grey's Anatomy; (pictured January)

The actress — who won an Emmy playing Izzie Stevens on the hit medical drama in 2007 — cleared the air during her recent appearance on Shannen Doherty ’s Let's Be Clear podcast

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The news of Heigl's decision to withdraw from Emmy consideration stirred controversy, especially since she had won the Best Supporting Actress award the previous year. 

In a 2008 statement, Heigl explained, '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.'

'I should have said nothing,' the star told Doherty on the podcast. '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.'

'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.'

She continued, 'I would never be so bold or so arrogant to turn down a nomination.' 

Last year, she spoke about being labeled 'difficult' after that controversy, among others, during an interview with Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo for Variety's Actors on Actors segment.

Heigl departed back in 2010 following rumors of on-set feuds and a reputation for being 'difficult' to work with. 

Addressing the exit, Heigl said: 'I was so naive. I got on my soapbox and I had some things to say, and I felt really passionate about this stuff.'

'I don’t know any person except for you that turns down an Emmy nomination,' Doherty said, to which Heigl chimed in, 'Well, I didn’t, and everybody keeps saying that. I didn't turn it down'; (pictured 2007)

'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 dick' 

'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'

The news of Heigl's decision to withdraw from Emmy consideration stirred controversy, especially since she had won the Best Supporting Actress award the previous year

She continued: 'I felt really strongly. 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. I’ve spent most of my life — I think most women do — being in that people-pleasing mode. 

'It’s really disconcerting when you feel like you have really displeased everybody. 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.

'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?” 

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." 

Katherine also described how the 'confidence' she got from starring on the hit show led to her getting 'mouthy.' 

'Then Grey’s hit, and the success happened. I think that gave me this confidence that was 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 OK with being crossed. I didn’t know how to fight that.' 

In January Katherine reunited with former Grey's Anatomy co-star Ellen Pompeo and the hit show's cast at the 2024 Emmys  - 14 years after she quit the show (pictured Chandra Wilson, Justin Chambers, Pompeo, Heigl and James Pickens Jr.)

After a decade-long absence, Heigl made her return 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 reunited cast delighted the audience as they revealed the nominees for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Beyond their presenting role, they celebrated the significant legacy of Grey's Anatomy, which just reached its historic 20th season.