Katherine Heigl, best known for her work on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, along with many other defining rom-coms from the early 2000s, is a reckoning force. The actress is often known for setting boundaries while working, taking a stand, and not staying quiet. This has often gotten her labeled as ‘rude’ or ‘unworkable’ within the industry. In an old interview, the actress addressed rumors of her being a ‘diva’ and brushed aside the comments with grace.
When Katherine Heigl addressed rumors of her being rude
In 2014, when Heigle featured on ‘The Meredith Vieira Show’ for an interview, she ended up opening up about why people often label her as rude, or as a diva for standing up for what she believes in.She cited that she knows she is a kind person; however, the comments come from a place where people cannot accept that she has set up her boundaries in the acting industry, and that she respects herself enough to know what she wants.During the interview, when the topic of someone asking her a question about the same matter online was brought up, Heigl confidently answered and shared that “I’m going to be really honest right now, I’m I’m not a rude person. I’m not an unkind or mean person. I would never go out of my way or consciously try to hurt anyone’s feelings or make them feel bad or uncomfortable or not be professional and do my job.”
Katherine Heigl stated that she will stay true to herself
Further on in the interview, she cited that she understands where the words come from; however, they are completely untrue, and will not make her stop standing up for herself. She added, “I will continue to stand up for myself, and I’m never going to stop, you know, stop standing up for my right to be heard, my right to be treated respectfully and professionally in return uh, my right to draw boundaries.”She further shared that “I am a strong woman, and I’m not going to apologize for that, and I’m not going to on behalf of my daughters, and I’m not going to on behalf of all you sitting in the audience. We should all have the right to the basic human right to say ‘hey no, I’m sorry, I’m not, I’m not comfortable with that, I don’t like that, like this is not okay for me’”.
How did Katherine Heigl’s diva image start in the first place
The entire situation started around 2007 and 2008, when she raised concerns over pay disparity on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, and publicly called the showrunners out for not being paid as much as her co-stars. In 2009, she featured on the ‘Late Show’ with David Letterman when she opened up about her first day on set at ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ after returning for another season. She had called out the long work hours at the time and had added that “Our first day back was Wednesday, and it was — I’m going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them — a 17-hour day, which I think is cruel and mean.” This comment, later on, was defended by Ellen Pompeo in 2022. While in conversation with Variety at the time, she stated that her former co-star was completely correct about what she had to say for the work hours.She further added that “I remember Heigl said something on a talk show about the insane hours we were working, and she was 100 percent right. And had she said that today, she’d be a complete hero. but she’s ahead of her time, made a statement about our crazy hours and of course, ‘let’s slam a woman and call her ungrateful.’”Not limited to this, over the years, the actress has been quite vocal about what she has faced in the industry, which has often not been met with welcoming arms.
Katherine Heigl’s later takes on the matter
The comments that she made at the time have followed the actress throughout her career in the industry and have affected a lot of projects for her as well. While in conversation with The Washington Post, the actress had cited that she never expected such a response to her words. She had added at the time that “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.’ What is your definition of difficult? somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? You can be the most awful, difficult, horrible person on the planet, but if you’re making them money, they’re going to keep hiring you.”
On the work front
The actress was last seen on screen back in 2023, in the show ‘Firefly Lane’ as Tullulah Rose Hart. Prior to that, she had worked on a film titled ‘Fear of Rain’, which was released in 2021.