“I just didn't submit my work that year” — Katherine Heigl sets the record straight about her 'Grey's Anatomy' Emmy nomination controversy 

Grey's Anatomy actor Katherine Heigl addressed the rumors of turning down an Emmy nomination, on a recent episode of Shannen Doherty’s podcast, Let’s Be Clear. In the podcast episode aired on June 28, 2024, after Doherty cited Heigl's amazing accomplishments, she referred to the rumors and added:

"I don't know any person except for you that turns down an Emmy nomination."

To this Heigl, who played the role of Dr. Izzie Stevens in Grey's Anatomy, said,

"Well, I didn't, and everybody keeps saying that. I didn't turn it down. You know, 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 controversy dated back to 2008, when Katherine Heigl announced that she'd not be a part of the Emmys race that year, because she felt she didn't give that much material to be eligible enough to receive a nomination. Soon, an insider told Entertainment Weekly and called the actress ungrateful.

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Katherine Heigl won an Emmy in 2007, for the best supporting actress role in a drama series, a year before the controversy

Back in 2008, when Grey's Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl faced a huge controversy after she chose to not submit her work for a possible Emmy nomination. This action of Heigl prompted an insider to contact media houses and give statements that included:

"The show bent over backwards to accommodate her film schedule, and then she criticizes the show for lack of material? It's an ungrateful slap in the face to the very writers responsible for her Emmy win in the first place."

Since then, a rumor began that she had turned down an Emmy nomination. Heigl recently addressed the rumor about the same and revealed that she didn't submit that year. Just a year before, in 2007, she received the Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series - 2007, for her role Dr. Izzie Stevens.

Katherine Heigl's winning the Emmys the previous year, made it more confusing when her name wasn't found in the list of Emmy contenders in 2008. In the current interview, Heigl further regretted her decision to speak about it back then. She continued:

"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."

Katherine Heigl added that she wasn't feeling her work that particular year, which prompted her to back off from contending for the Emmys.

"I didn't think I had anything that warranted even the consideration for a nomination. I just wasn't proud of my work. I would never be so bold or so arrogant to turn down a nomination," said the actress.

Heigl mentioned that had she gone with submitting her work and then received a nomination, she would have definitely not rejected it. The actress also said,

"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*ck."

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Heigl had previously addressed the Emmys controversy

In 2016, during an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Katherine Heigl had again expressed regret for her reaction in 2008, about not contending for Emmys. During the interview, she said,

"There was a part of me that thought, because I had won the year before, that I needed juicy, dramatic, emotional material, and I just didn’t have that that season."

What happened in 2008 was, however, not the first time that Heigl had expressed criticism against the American drama series. In March 2007, she opted out of the salary negotiations claiming that she felt that the show didn't value her enough the way they did for the rest of the cast.

ABC TV Studio, however, claimed that they had offered the actress a significant raise, shortly after which she was reported to have received it for her work on the series.

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In January 2024, Katherine Heigl reunited with the rest of the Grey's Anatomy cast at the Emmys to celebrate the show which became the longest running medical drama in TV history. Most of the cast were present apart from Sandra Oh and T. R. Knight. Heigl told EW and People Magazine about how much she missed her co-stars as they don't meet up a lot.