Katherine Heigl On Shonda Rhimes Feud: ‘It Sucks’
Katherine Heigl isn’t on the best terms with her former boss Shonda Rhimes. When the actress was on Grey’s Anatomy, she created a bit of drama with her honest critique of the writing on the show by taking herself out of consideration for an Emmy in 2008 because she didn’t believe she was given material to warrant a nomination. The year prior to that, she had won an Emmy award for Best Supporting Actress.
Couple that with her “difficult” reputation, in addition to complaining about her work hours, and Heigl earned a permanent spot on Rhimes’ you-know-what list. We had an inkling that Rhimes, who basically owns Thursday nights now, didn’t have warm and fuzzy feelings for the actress, but she confirmed it in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter this year.
At the time, Rhimes said she learned a few lessons from the early drama filled years of Grey’s Anatomy. Now she has a “no a******s policy.” She went on to explain what she meant in case that comment went misconstrued, “There are no Heigls in this situation … I don’t put up with b***s**t or nasty people. I don’t have time for it.”
Katherine Heigl, NBC’s new leading lady on State of Affairs, heard about this comment as well as those other comments about her reputation. When Extra’s Mario Lopez brought Shonda’s remarks up, she was visibly bothered, but tackled the question like a pro.
Mentioning several reports, Heigl said the last report hurt her. “The last one with Shonda … it sucks.”
She continued, “I am sorry that she feels that way and I wish her nothing but greatness and I have nothing negative to say about [her]. I’m a big fan of her work. I watch Scandal every week and so I’m sorry she’s left with such a crappy impression of me. I wish I could do something to change that. Maybe I will be able to someday.”
The actress, who has taken on an apology tour while promoting her new NBC drama, admitted to Lopez that making a comeback wasn’t easy. “That took some stomaching. [I’ve realized] there’s nothing I can do about this except to sort of prove it wrong, you know? And the only way to prove it wrong is for people to have a work experience with me that doesn’t speak to that at all.”
This time around, Heigl isn’t just an actress but a producer as well, which the actress pointed out in her interview. “I have more opportunity to get involved … but you would see between takes how absurd it is and all the jokes we’re making and how weird it is.”
[Image via DFree / Shutterstock.com]
