Katherine Heigl Denies She Was “Trying To Be A D***” In 2008 ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Emmy Nomination Scandal

A 2008 Emmy Awards controversy surrounding Katherine Heigl has once again resurfaced after she discussed the situation on last week’s episode of the Let’s Be Clear podcast, hosted by Shannen Doherty.

“I would never be so bold or so arrogant to turn down a nomination,” Heigl said on the podcast, referring to the media frenzy that occurred after she was accused of turning down the prestigious nomination for her role in Grey’s Anatomy, per Deadline.

She continued, “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 dick.”

The news of Heigl not wanting to be considered for the Emmys was controversial in 2008, as it directly followed her win for Best Supporting Actress the year before.

In a statement from 2008, Heigl said, “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.” This was a statement she says she wishes she never made.

“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,” Heigl said on the podcast. “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.”

This is not the first time Heigl has addressed the rumors. She spoke about it again back in 2016 on the Howard Stern Show, per Entertainment Weekly.

“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,” Heigl explained in her appearance on the show. “I think there were 12 series regulars on that show, and everybody deserved their juicy, dramatic, emotional season. I’m not a writer, but I imagine it must be very difficult to do that for everybody.”

Heigl talked about the BTS process of receiving a nomination on the podcast for listeners who may not know.

“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,” she said. “I just didn’t submit my work that year.”

While she may have not been a fan of her work on Grey’s in the 2008 season, there’s no bad blood between Heigl and the rest of the cast. She reunited with former costars Ellen Pompeo, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. at last year’s Emmy’s ceremony to celebrate the show as the longest-running primetime medical drama in TV history.