Katherine Heigl’s political thriller series with Alfre Woodard, State of Affairs, premiered on NBC this Monday. I haven’t seen it yet but I plan to catch it on demand. The series is getting moderate reviews and moderate viewership. It was bested by Gotham for the top scripted series to air on Monday but still had a solid showing. We’ll have to see if it retains viewership over the season.
During Heigl’s press tour she’s had to answer countless questions about her former diva behavior along with the fact that she’s badmouthed two of her employers. Some of you agree with Heigl that it’s sexist to bring this up, but I think it’s more a matter of Heigl continually burning bridges to the point where even her former employers have called her out. Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes in fact said just last month that she had a great cast on Scandal because “There are no Heigls in this situation… I don’t put up with bullshi–t or nasty people. I don’t have time for it.” Well Heigl feels bad about that, but she doesn’t say it’s not true, just that she wants a chance to make it up to Rhimes.
Katherine Heigl regrets making a bad impression on show creator Shonda Rhimes. The State of Affairs actress admitted during an interview with Mario Lopez that it “sucks” that Rhimes associates her with “nasty people.”
“The last one with Shonda…it sucks,” Heigl said when asked about Rhimes’ recent Hollywood Reporter interview…
Heigl, who ticked off Rhimes after removing herself from Emmy consideration in 2008, added: “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 27 Dresses actress also admitted she’s aware she needs to do some damage control. “That took some stomaching,” she told Lopez about learning of her negative image. [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.”
That was gracious, well said, and on point. As long as Heigl continues to focus on moving forward and not complaining about how she was wronged, she should be fine.
To change gears for a moment, if State of Affairs doesn’t do well for NBC, does that mean that the “film star heading a TV series” model is flawed? I loved Halle Berry in Extant, but I didn’t love the plot each episode and thought it lacked focus. More than in the movies, I think the quality of the show matters more than star power on the small screen. We need a watchable, well-scripted show with fleshed out characters if we’re going to tune in every week. Shonda Rhimes knows this and Heigl surely regrets pissing her off.
Katherine and Shonda in 2007:
Katherine Heigl is shown on 11-13-14 in two different outfits and out with her mother. What’s up with that pink culotte pantsuit?! She’s also shown at LAX on 11-15. Credit: Pacific Coast News and FameFlynet
“I’m sorry that she feels this way”
#sorrynotsorry
I was going to say I don’t agree with you but I kinda do. At face value, her entire comment did sound gracious and regretful. However, the part that got me was ” I wish I could do something to change that. Maybe I will be able to someday.” Because she COULD do something. She could apologize. Maybe she has and we don’t know about it and if she did, it’s classy that she didn’t say anything about it because clearly Shonda didn’t accept the apology. However, I don’t think she apologize. I think she suffers from victim syndrome where she doesn’t see the connection between her behavior and what happens to her.
I think you nailed it. I think she really fails to take responsibility for her actions. It is ok to make mistakes but acknowledging them is key.
Yes, classic Non-apology.
I’m not judging the situation between Katherine and Shonda as I never followed what was going on between them, but the “I am sorry that she feels that way” is on the list of my most hated statements.
It is a useful, polite way to end an argument with someone not worth arguing with or something not worth arguing about, as I said below. It’s not supposed to be an apology.
I generally hate that too, but a few weeks ago was dealing with an INSANE client and after letting her rant like a lunatic, I very carefully chose those words to say to her, and it was perfect for the situation.
Yes, if someone says something to me and I think they are not worth arguing with and their point is stupid and I don’t care what they think anyway, that’s what I say. “I’m sorry you feel that way.” It means “I don’t really care,” but doesn’t continue the argument.
Before any one feels sorry for Kate, imagine how hard it is being a African American woman in this industry and having a hit show on a network that is not over flowing in diversity. Then at the height of popularity your star bad mouth you on the talk show circuit and print media. Plus she insults every writer on the show and withdraw her Emma nomination due to poor material.
Then they make every effort to write around you so you can have a movie career. Then when it’s time to return she screws then and leaves last minute.
When your career crash and burn you tell the press you mightOld shonda a favor and return for Kate old times sake.
Kate burned a lot a bridges all by herself.
@funcakes
Oh, I didn’t mean anything against Shonda at all, though I can see how you got that from what I wrote. I was just agreeing with krastins that “I’m sorry you feel that way” is a non-apology. I didn’t mean to imply that Kate was correct or that I was taking her side in the argument. Just that when I use that expression, I’m not really apologizing.
@good names taken
Please don’t take my comment personally. It was not directed towards you. Just food for thought for everyone. Love reading all opinions. That’s why I like hanging out here with everyone.
Me, too, funcakes. 🙂
Yes and if she doesn’t feel sorry and doesn’t know what the grievance is, why should she apologize?
Again, I think this is one of those overblown ‘hate her cuz she’s beautiful’ group hate mob deals.
Everybody bashes her but if you ask them (and I have many a time) ‘Well, uh, what exactly did she DO?’
They respond like: ‘Uhh…well…um..er…something something…knocked up…emmys….diva…blah..blah’ and I’m like ‘Oooookaaay and alrighty then!’
What I recall of Heigl’s time on Greys?
Well before Shonda became a GLAAD honoree for her very admirable current portrayals of gay people and couples on scandal, htgawm, and current day greys anatomy….Heigl was the only one very loudly calling out then homophobic isaiah Washington while Shonda dragged her feet. I bet that’s when they first bumped heads.
Heigl has seemed to always be a straight shooter, a do the right thing kind of woman…strong…add in the beautiful….and she’s tailor made for haters, backlash and attacks IMO.
@DenisePayne :
I dont think either woman is perfect, but I think this issue is more to do with people being jealous of her looks or her being strong a straight shooter. If she was really having a problem with the material she was recieving on Grey’s she could have handled that more quietly. I mean if I was having a problem at my work I would discuss it with my boss not go to facebook or whatever and rant about them. Katherine was publicly talking crap about the show she was on. Or with the Knocked Up comments. I mean, if you thought it was so misogynistic, then why do it? I mean her “star” was pretty big then so its not like she really needed the exposure. And even if she did, she signed up to do that job. Its just very distasteful for any actor to trash the movie or show they did when their hundreds of other actors that would gladly take your place. I think the only time it would be appropriate to trash your experience on a movie or show is if you were honest to god being abused by a director/producer etc.
She’s an idiot, biting the hand that feeds her was so stupid.
She ruined a perfectly good career, with her attitude.
+1.
Also, to me, she comes off as such a miserable *uck!!!
Only Grey’s Anatomy really did suck.
But she was working and earning a paycheck. If she was unhappy, there were steps she could have taken. You work internally on things like that; you don’t try to shame your employer. And at the end of the day, Shonda Rhimes went on to have more successful shows. What happened to Heigl? She imploded. Clearly, her approach didn’t work.
@Chelsa ha! Here’s the thing she was dumb but her points were valid. Grey’s was really awful and a lot of people had backlash against them breaking up George and Callie to get him and Izzie together. Their chemistry was horrible and so not good at all.
I think that the actor who played George pretty much went on to say that Shonda Rhimes really didn’t support him much at all after the IW incident occurred. I think that SR was hoping people would forgive it and move on but everyone was calling for him to be fired. Now IW who put his hands on another castmate and used a slur was asked back last season but not Katherine Heigel? Come on now people.
@starrywonder
I think IW was only asked back to facilitate Sandra Oh’s departure (and I miss her sooo much). It seems like IW tried to make amends and isn’t as hated by writers and show runners as much as Heigl is.
IMO they needed to get rid of Izzy a lot sooner than they did.
I feel that the worst thing an actor like her can do is seem so ungrateful and snotty. Can’t stand her at all… ugh.
After leaving Grey’s Anatomy(and seriouuly who can blame her…i’m pretty sure all the actors that ever appeared on Grey’sANotmy long for a film career)she had a good enough film career to make in just a year more than the Grey’s Anatomy cast did in the show’s run combined.Wasn’t Heigl among the highest-paid -actresses for like 3 years in a row?I’m sure money wasn’t the problem…
Yeah. It was a bummer. I loved her in some of the romcoms she did. I honestly thought she was going to be the next Meg Ryan after Knocked Up, the dresses movie, etc. Then her personality got in the way of all of that.
Sounds like she’s gagging on all the crow she’s reluctantly eating.
So true. Almost feel sorry for her. At least it sounds like she’s beginning to see the error of her ways. It annoys me more when celebrities blame others, sexism, racism, life, air, etc. for their career downfall, when the blames lies squarely with them (i.e. Chris Brown). And it bugs the crap out of me when their star begins to ascend again WITHOUT that sense of acknowledgment/contrition (again, Chris Brown), because you know they’ll do it all again in a heartbeat.
Katherine Heigl might be a pain in the ass, but Shonda is worse. Shonda is the one who keeps bringing up this mess a decade later. Shonda is the one who is perfectly fine with Isaiah Washington, the man who assaulted cast members and called TR Knight a fa—t. But she’s still harping on Heigl all these years later, just because she had the balls to call out Shonda’s crappy writing on Grey’s Anatomy.
They fired Washington right after it happened. Yes, he did come back to wrap up Cristina’s story line but behind the scenes, there are also could have been a difference of attitude. And Heigl does have a reputation of being a pain in the ass.
Seriously? I intensely dislike it when someone tries to sweep aside their terrible behavior by saying that people just don’t like ballsy women. Heigl’s bad behavior has been documented in so many places, for so long, that I don’t even need to list it because you clearly just don’t want to know. You know what’s ballsy? Because being unpleasant isn’t ballsy, its burning every professional bridge you have. Bad enough that your high profile former boss (who’s other employees LOVE her) actually uses your name as shorthand for a$$hole.
to be fair is not like the other employees have much of a chance do they? After seeing what she did with Heigl anyone would fear to get on Shonda’s wrong side. I mean I don’t think it was undeserved if she really behaved in the way it’s said but I think it’s time to let it go. Plus, every story has two sides and the most powerful person here is Shonda, so I take this with a grain of salt.
They fired Washington but I don’t see her referring to his totally despicable behavior over and over again…
Didn’t Dempsey and Pompeo also made comments about the show? Perhaps it was more graciously so that’s why they’re still working.
Here’s a way of looking at it: how many people want to work with S honda Rhimes right now? How many people continuously work with her, through multiple projects? And now look at how many people have worked with Heigl a 2nd time? Almost none. It was even a part of her Star Report a few years ago that she was so unpleasant that they had a hard time casting actors to play opposite her because no one ever wanted to work with her a second time.
You want a ballsy woman who has faced sexism head on? That’s Shonda Rhimes right there.
ETA: both Dempsey and Pompeo have expressed reluctance to continue on Grey’s indefinitely, but both have been pretty polite and professional with their comments.
Shonda Rymes is a good lady, worked hard, broke through a lot of TV corporate glass ceiling bullcrap to get where she is , I’ve met her just casually once in LA, she is a nice woman and classy.
Kathryn Heigel is a good actress but she bit the hand that feeds her, she’s lucky she’s working at all. What Heidi did was dumb too, writers you are earning a Big paycheck through, don’t like to be told they are writing shit.
I’m actually glad that she’s still bringing this up about her. It seems to me that she might be doing it to warn anybody who is thinking of working with KH again. Good for her!!!
Setting aside the question about Shonda’s writing staff (I agree that it tends to go south on her shows after 2 seasons)-it’s not that Heigl called the writing crap. It’s that she requested to have her storyline made smaller that season to have more time to film movies, which was accommodated, and THEN threw the writers under the bus for her having a weak storyline and not a lot to do. That’s very unprofessional. Male or female. They also adjusted the shooting schedule for her-and Heigl did the same thing.
And she’s not ‘fine’ with Washington. He got booted after that incident in season 3, and came back for a one off episode 7 years later. That he was barely in. If she was fine with him she could have cast him in any of her other shows. The guy has not had any kind of real gig in the industry since 2007.
Look I had a bad coworker a few years back. I don’t bring her up all the time-but to this day everyone in my office will refer to a crazy person at work as “pulling a Ashlee” That’s not harping on her-that’s just giving a name to something.
Heidi publicly also asked that her name be withdrawn for a Emmy or Sag award season? Because she didn’t feel the shows Grey’s A,…..writing was up to par……WTF…….
Who does that? It was a STupid thing to do, she made enemies forever in Hollywood doing that.
She had to work with these people, it was just a dumb move and she will forever suffer from it in hollywood. Writers created Hollywood projects and will think twice about hiring her.
Agree with this whole post. She was unprofessional, and I wish she’d own that more and says she’s learned, grown up, whatever, rather than just “sorry she feels that way”.
Actually I wish she WOULD learn and deal better with people. There have been many other stories of her and her mother being difficult, and didn’t the showrunner of her new series abruptly quit?
See what I see that happened is that KH had legitimate criticisms at her storyline that year because it was awful. And she was dumb enough to voice those out loud. She suffered from David Caruso disease in thinking that since she was in so many hit movies she was bullet proof. She was dumb.
However, I am going to say that I think if she were a man the backlash would not have hit her as hard. How many people have gone and said this movie was horrible, or that show was awful, etc? Most people don’t say anything to the male celebrities but go in hard on the women. Shia LaBeouf crapped all over Transformers and the last Indiana Jones movie.
Shonda Rhimes may be nice but I honestly don’t think she writes drama well. She writes very good soap operaish stuff. Greys Anatomy used to be must see tv and after season 4 I was pretty much done.
All that said KH was too dumb to say anything out loud to anyone that was not her cat who could not talk back and tell others what she said. She criticized Knocked Up because she didn’t have enough sense and this was after she did the Ugly Truth which was just as sexist as Knocked Up was.
I think the storyline criticism was the last (rather large) straw for the GA bosses. I believe Rhimes and one or two actors did not want Isaiah Washington fired, but felt Heigl kept giving the story air. Some columnists have written that even TR Knight eventually began to feel used by KH because of the situation, the thought process being Heigl was putting one cast member down to bring herself up. I also thought Ellen Pompeo gave the most honest assessment the only time I’ve heard her opinion on the situation; she pointed out that KH had renegotiated for A LOT more money, then tried to (rather aggressively) get out of her contract.
@Chick yeah. I do think that they were angry about her saying that about her storyline. The Denny ghost sex was awful by the way. I still have no idea what they were thinking. I used to read TWOP back in the day and they used to recap the show and man the snark that started after season 3 was beautiful to behold. The show did become terrible she just should have been smart enough to keep her mouth closed about it.
You are correct that IW was not fired right away after the TR incident. It did take KH who kept talking about it (it was on EW and a E Online, etc) multiple times before they decided to write him out of the show. Up until then I do think that Shonda Rhimes hoped it would be ignored and she got to keep him.
Do I think that KH did this to leverage herself up more? Not really. Just because at the time she was really the breakout star of Grey’s Anatomy and Patrick Dempsey had a resurgence as well.
I do agree with Ellen Pompeo saying that KH did renegotiate for a lot more money and she wanted additional time off because she had just had a baby and she was ticked about having to be there. I still say she got David Caruso disease with her thinking she was going to be this big time movie star and made things crap to get written out of the show.
@starry The Denny ghost sex season was the season after the entire withdrawl from award season/cut my hours so I have time to film movies drama. Alot of folks think the writers did that on purpose for revenge. That storyline was so awful that that was the point.
And the negotiating for time off wasn’t just about her having her baby, but also because she had a busy film schedule that year. So fought hard for a contract, fought hard to time off/a better shooting schedule–and then went on letterman and complained about said shooting schedule that was created for her because she needed X Y and Z.
Oy, the Ghost Sex almost made me miss Gizzie. TWoP did have a field day with that one. It was right up there with the monkey basketballs from L&O:SVU.
Read a story about her a couple of days ago and she was described as ‘her signature mature dressing style’
hahahahahahahhahhah I am going to bust something inside laughing so hard, The way people were commenting on her new show in Jezebel was like : CHARLESTON TUCKER??? What is this Name? WHAT IS SHE WEARING?? In WASHINGTON D.C?? WHAT’S THAT HAIR??
She is wearing a peach colored coulottes suit. She intentionally put that on her body.
Yeah, I was like…are those….coulottes?
It’s like she raided her mother’s closet!
I know! I recorded it, but now I can’t bear to watch it. CHARLESTON TUCKER?! Is that some kind of homage to Tucker Carlson? The hell. I just can’t.
HAhahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha CULOTTES!! Jesus!! someone also piped in Jezebel that when someone has HORRIBLE clothes in a show and bad hair/makeup is usually cause they are awful on set and it’s being done on Purpose
You know, I was honestly wondering were those her street clothes or on set.
That’s been my theory about her for a long time. She’s a pretty woman, yet she’s constantly made up so unflatteringly, including for events where it would have beendone by a pro.
Pink dress, sheer black hose. /shudder
Maybe her mom is picking out the clothes.
Ignoring Heigl the Movie star on TV thing works best on cable when the shows are better written and the sensibility of the shows are more cinematic.
It’s sexist because we know about a bunch of male actors that bad mouthed their employees and didn’t receive one tenth of the backlash Heighl received. I think she’s genuinely sorry…after all this pretty much destroyed her carrier. People need to move on, this is just stupid now.
Who for excample? I can not think any, but I do not know much about these kinds of things.
Shia Labeouf. He’s said some not very nice things about Oliver Stone and Steven Spielberg.
Thanks @FingerBinger
That was the first one I thought of, who still gets lots and lots of work.
More (just to name a few): James Franco, Wesley Snipes, Robert Pattinson, Jackie Chan, and the very recent case of Miles Teller, who thinks he’s a gift of God.
@Bridget
I will have to use the same example to answer you: Shia Labeouf. He is said to be very unpleasant to work with and I think he is as bankable as Heigl was on her days. There are many others with a horrible reputation and still people don’t bring it in every single interview.
@minime I loathe Miles Teller. That is all.
Shia doesn’t come with the financial demands that Heigl does. Remember when she demanded an astronomical amount of moneyfor 2 days of work for Valentine’s Day? AAnd I hate to say it, but there’s a pretty big talent gap between LeBouf and Heigl – I would actually compare him to Rooney Mara (a girl who’s been known to make many a comment).
On the other hand, look at someone like Alex Pettyfer, who was on the upswing but was so unpleasant that he’s barely being hired anymore. He was even booted from the Magic Mikepress because he ticked off Cbanning Tatum so badly.
I disagree. I don’t see anything sexist about calling a witch a witch.
But for that comparison to work, Heigl would have to have been in trouble ONLY for badmouthing her employers – a huge reason she was “blacklisted” if you will was that she was extremely unpleasant to work with. And even then, people were willing to work with her as long as she got butts in seats. In order for people to put up with an unpleasant star with an even more unpleasant momager, they’d have to be extremely bankable or extremely talented.
sadly a woman who speaks her mind is often labeled difficult, bitchy and hard to work with. I remember all the hate for Gillian Anderson. She wanted the same money as Duchovny for X Files. It was her right, but most people were irritated by her bringing this up. They gave her a hard time for being annoying and money grabbing. They told her to shut up and do her job.
No one makes a big story about it when a male actor asks for changes or isn´t happy with the script. But if a female actor says something then she is badmouthing and catty. Women get the negative labels.
In short, a difficult male actor is labeled strong willed. An actress is petulant and uncrateful.
I think Mama Heigl’s black cloud presence is more the heart of the issue than Heigl herself. Heigl does much better when left to her work without Mother albatross around her neck.
Oh yeah I remember the backlash at Gillian when she asked for the same money. She was an equal headliner and they did treat her like garbage for asking for it. I think she did a reddit a few weeks or months ago where she addressess it took much longer than it should have for her to get equal pay.
We can’t always play Oppression Olympics whenever a female gets dragged. Heigl made her career bed and she is now experiencing what it is like to actually lie in it. She is finding out that people in and outside the industry have LOOOOOOONG memories.
Like my mama said, “Shit doesn’t always roll downhill.”
Fair game. Hope you also bring all that judgment on the already pointed male cases who continue to have very successful careers (not saying you don’t, but saying that the industry does is just not realistic). Apparently long memories mostly apply to failures of women and it’s “Opression Olympics” to talk about it…
Did you see how people ripped Miles Teller to shreds for the way he spoke about his previous jobs?
Mel Gibson, Val Kilmer, Isaiah Washington. Where are they now? Are they working? I don’t think so.
Why is Shonda Rhimes still bringing up Heigl’s name all these years later? It makes me think less of HER, not KH. At some point, it’s time to move on and be a gracious person. I have no idea if KH has changed or if she was ever as bad as legend is making her out to be, but damn, time to move on already.
Probably just to be spiteful.
Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.
I agree, Rhimes comes across as unprofessional. It’s not difficult to say that “I have a great bunch of people to work with” without bringing up the name of a woman you haven’t worked with in about a decade. Especially when at this current moment everyone is piling on. It’s just classless. There’s a point when you allow someone to move on with their lives in whichever manner they can.
After thinking about it for a while, I think that she brought it up because of KH saying during an interview that she’d be open to coming back to Grey’s…….
her career has been in the dumps for years so i don’t think it’s a referendum on movie stars coming to tv. halle’s show looked lame but obviously she has more star power so that’s a better argument for it. i think you’re right it just matters about the quality of the show more than anything. this heigl show looks like a total crap ride, IMO. saw a preview and she says something like being a sniper in her work life and a slob in her personal one… and it’s heigl as director of cia? i’m sorry to the rest of the cast and crew, but no. i can’t.
Her outfit in the last picture: flawless
Is that the same sweater and coat that’s in the first pic but with different pants? If not the girl loves her greys. I do like the casual look of the last pic though. She looks so comfortable. And that puppy accessory is to die for.
Are those koolots? lol
I just realized that Shonda Rhimes has the same last name as Leanne Rhimes…I realize why that is and it’s not great, I just think that it’s weird that I didn’t notice until now.
the spelling is different it Leanne Rimes ….
Heigle’s statement was years ago and Shonda looks more like an asshole for hanging onto it and bringing it up so long after the fact. We all have an incidence or two or more in our past where we have said or done something we look back on with regret. It’s part of life. Honestly, isn’t it Heigle’s right as a human and actor to have an opinion about her work? I doubt she made the decision just to piss off Shonda. She obviously felt that way. She didn’t feel worthy of the nom. So fucking what. She’s has obviously grown since then and she’s making nice, like an adult would. Shonda’s got the ball now. Will she be a grown up or keep snuggling with her bitterness over this old decrepit situation?
Why do people think this was about just a couple of crappy public statements? Like Heigl ran her mouth off a couple of times but was just a sweet angel behind the scenes?
Because Heigel was the star of that show and even though she probably became difficult to work with once her career took off, you know the major thing that pissed Rhimes off was Heigel removing herself from the award nominations and bad mouthing the writing. It just seems petty on Rhimes part that she keeps bringing this stuff up, even more so around the time Heigel has a new show coming out. I mean I understand that it pissed Rhimes off. I would be furious too, but how vindictive to keep slamming her years after the fact. Rhimes has won many awards after the incident and has had success. Heigels career took a hit and went in the dumps. Rhimes should feel vindicated just by that alone, but she keeps on going after Heigel. It’s petty and makes her look immature and spiteful. She needs to move on and get over it.
Heigl was never the star of that show. Only in her mind.
I would guess the primary reason Shonda got so mad about Heigl trashing the writing and removing herself from award contention because she didn’t have enough story and it wasn’t up to par was because Heigl had *asked* for reduced story and airtime so she could concentrate on her film career. The writers accommodated her request. Then Heigl turned around and trashed Shonda and the writers.
They even accommodated the GA’s filming schedule for Heigl’s movie schedules and then Heigl went and publicly complained about how long and awful the GA’s filming schedule was and how much she was forced to work and what a toll it took on her.
Stories of Heigl being unpleasant and unprofessional date back to when she was on Roswell IIRC. It’d be easier to chalk this up to just being sour grapes by Shonda if this alleged attitude and these stories were isolated to just GA. But it’s not. It’s pretty much every project she works on. She’s had a career that spans over 20 years and no one that she’s worked with before really ever wants to work with her again, be it actor, producer, director. At some point, it’s time to look in the mirror and see if maybe she’s part of the problem as well.
Read the Hollywood Reporter piece. It does a much better job illuminating the subject than I do… but its definitely not just an actress speaking her mind.
I never heard of her until Grey’s Anatomy and I thought that’s when her career took off. I don’t agree with how Heigel acted or anything. I don’t even like her, I just feel like it’s been years since all of this went down, so Rhimes should be over it by now. It just seems like she’s holding a grudge and I would too I suppose, but I wouldn’t be so blatantly obvious about it in the media. I wouldn’t bring her up in the press. The damage to her career has been done. If asked about her I would say it was an unpleasant experience to work with her, but I wish her the best or not even wish her the best and just leave it as an unpleasant experience. I wouldn’t keep bringing her up and bad mouthing her though. After so long it just seems immature to me.
In regards to her being the star of the show, I always thought her and the guy (Patrick something?) were considered the stars. Everybody I knew loved her on the show. I don’t really know, I didn’t watch the show.
Heigl will never improve as long as she hides behind her bulldog momager. Nobody wants to hear what mommy dearest’s thoughts on set are, that’s totally unprofessional and extremely weird. She and her mom have a very creepy, very deeply rooted symbiosis going on and it cripples whatever potential Heigl has. That mama is never gonna let her baby bird fly.
I want to give KH the benefit of the doubt and hope she lives up to her words (about being nicer on set from now on). But Mama may be a whole other story.
I think her career would have played out differently if her mom wasn’t her manager. I think her mom is and always will be most of the problem.
I agree. Her mom is a huge part of the problem. I read an article about Brooke Shield’s new book and she discusses how co-dependent (and totally messed up) her relationship with her mom was, and it made me think of Heigl. I’m not saying Heigl’s mom is a crazy alcoholic like Shield’s mother was. But she is definitely too close to Heigl to be a professional & effective manager. I wonder how much of Heigl’s attitude came from actually defending her mom’s lack of professionalism. I’ve mentioned on this site before but I used to be a fan of her husband and he often posts pics of their family on FB and they genuinely seem like a very sweet and loving family. She obviously ADORES her daughters, so I struggle with thinking she’s some ruthless nasty b*tch.
There was a story on THR about Katherine a while ago about all of her issues and if I remember correctly they were saying her mom was a huge part of the problem and people on set where annoyed with her or something. She should drop her mom as manager, get a new one, be nice to people and she would be fine.
Couldn’t agree more- I was watching the opening credits of State of Affairs and the Executive Producers caught my eye. First was Heigl herself – good for her, and par for the course for any lead actor – but guess who her co-exec producer was… Mama Heigl. FFS, really? Since when does any manager (let alone a Monster Momager) get an exec producer credit on their ‘client’s’ show?
@Dara
Yuuuuuup, not a good sign *sips tea*
Seems odd she says she greatly respects Shonda’s work when she publicly stated she didn’t think Shonda’s writing was worth the Emmy nomination she received. Ungrateful and a hypocrite.
Heidi ruined a perfectly good career,by thinking she knows more than the writers.
If she knows so much, let her write her own stuff but as long as writers are helping to bring her a paycheck,mshe should have handled her issues discretely, not utterly insult the entire show with her statement during an Award season.
Heidi was grandstanding and it backfired on her.
I saw State of Affairs and I was not impressed. I miss the Blacklist.
As for the Shonda coining a new phrase to describe nasty actresses, that’s her right. Heigl & her mom have been burning bridges for years. Her first go round was Roswell. Took her years to come back from that. She was given a great chance with Grey’s and messed that up to when success went to her head. People are waiting to see how she’s screw up this next gig. Though, I doubt someone of Alfre Woodard’s character will put up with her BS for too long.
Did they cut the Blacklist? I saw it on Amazon and Netflix and I’ve watched the first couple episodes and I really liked it. When I have time, I figure I might do a binge.
Nah, the Blacklist is fine. They moved it to Thursdays opposite Scandal to make room for Heigl’s show. I don’t watch Scandal, so it’s not a big deal, but I don’t want the show to get creamed either in the ratings either.
I guess I can’t remember what happened to cause all of this but if it was her complaining about the writing, the writing DID really start to suck with Grey’s Anatomy. It used to be my favorite show but I haven’t watched for years. I have no idea if it is even on. If that was the initial cause and I’m thinking it might be based on the comments, it’s definitely wrong for an actor/actress to publicly malign the show they are currently on. Not saying she was right to do it IF that was the cause for this rift. But it is odd that this keeps being brought up as it must have happened many years ago. Talk about hanging onto things!
There is something that truly bothers me about Katherine Heigl and the way she tries to sweep away her bad behavior by implying that people just don’t like a ballsy woman. Being rude isn’t ballsy. Being unpleasant isn’t ballsy. Having a manager represent you who truly makes the people around you certainly isn’t ballsy. On behalf of all ballsy women, I reject this.
I agree Bridget, that’s my biggest complaint with her.
Spot on. Her behaviour was quite bewildering. Who says they found their film sexist during the promotional tour for the actual film (if I remember correctly)? And the Emmy thing was just so stupid. Career suicide. If she wants to speak out in the future, she should do it much, much more subtly, and when some time has passed.
The “film star heading a TV series” model has been hit or miss for some time.
Heather Graham went to TV a few years ago when she was still fairly a big name, and I think her show got cancelled after just a few episodes. Christian Slater once had a big film career, and then had like 3 or 4 TV shows tank. Robin Williams’ last show was cancelled. That awful looking pirate thing John Malkovich somehow ended up in on NBC got canceled.
I think it’s safe to say that being a big name film star does not automatically guarantee TV success. But if a film star finds the right show, it can be a career highlight.
I bet, Katherine was seething on the inside to even have to address any of it. Often times w/mean people, they expect you to “get over it” and move on. I am sure she hates addressing any of it. heehee
and she showed her butt during that whole fiasco
I hate it when people say, “I’m sorry you feel that way.” That is not an apology at all. An apology is saying sorry for something you did, not sorry for how someone feels about something you did. If you don’t own the bad behavior by acknowleding it – outloud, such as I’m sorry I said those things about you, or I’m sorry I was ungrateful, etc., you aren’t apologizing. My response would be “I don’t want you to be sorry for how I feel. I want you to be sorry for what you did.” Heigl is still a jerk! Can’t stand her and refuse to watch the show no matter how good anybody might tell me it is in the future. If there isn’t something else on at the same time worth watching, I’ll pull something off the DVR.
Is it sexist to pick on Heigl or did she make that bed herself? There are plenty of people who are miserable asshats on the set but they don’t get called on it because, usually, the people around them — for professional reasons, I’m sure — all agree not to air that laundry.
In Heigl’s case, Rhimes was not the one who came out and told everyone what a pain Heigl was to work with. Heigl herself started muttering first — in the press — about what she thought was wrong with her job situations.
I know from rumour what jerks Russell Crowe, David O. Russell, Mike Meyers, and many other men are on set. What I don’t recall hearing is how any of these guys go around bad-mouthing their coworkers afterward. Unless I missed it; that could well be. But most people in the industry can tell the difference between what’s backstage and what’s front stage. Divas backstage have been a common occurrence since the beginning of Hollywood—I’m sure no one appreciates them, but many people are used to them.
But when you get on stage, s#!tting on your co-workers in front of the public is where the line gets drawn. You have to be sure of how much power you have in the industry before you can do that and get away with it. And if you’re the one badmouthing, you better not misbehave yourself or all of that becomes free ball.
This was Heigl’s problem. Has she learned? For her career’s sake, hopefully.
As much as I believe all of the nasty stories in the press about what a total MONSTER Heigl and her mother are to work with, and as prepared as I was to hate or flat out ignore ‘State of Affairs’ because if it, I have to admit: I watched every second of this show-I was sucked in within the first 5 minutes-and so f’ng LOVED IT 😊
Katherine was absolutely fantastic in her role as an emotionally fragile yet simultaneously bad ass CIA agent and Alfred Woodard as the Pres? Lovely and strong. The only issue I took with the premiere episode were the parts that were clearly an homage to ‘Homeland’ (which is a show I couldn’t stand enough to get past episode 2 despite loving Claire Danes as an actress). I think if they can move beyond that completely and Katherine can behave herself behind the scenes by being kind and respectful to her fellow cast & crew, it mght turn into a major success.
*Side note: I too loved ‘Extant’ (at least the first handful of episodes), but I feel like it lost its way halfway through the season with all of the alien-baby-serving-as-an-imposter-to-dead-people-and-leaving-behind-weird-glowing-blue-symbols-stuff. It’s too bad because that one had campy, fun potential.
@PJ – I’m not sure I enjoyed the show as much as you did, but I did enjoy it more than I thought I would and plan to keep watching. The similarities to Homeland made me cringe, you are being too kind calling it an ‘homage’, they outright stole in my opinion. That’s a shame, because the story and characters have serious potential and I’m hoping those similarities lessen the further into the plot they go.
I also don’t know that I truly buy into Heigl playing a total bad-ass, not yet any way. There were times when I saw it, and others where all I saw was ‘Secret Agent Barbie’… sorry if that sounds perjorative, anti-feminist, anti-Heigl, or anti-Barbie, just my humble, average tv-viewer opinion.
It’s pretty immature of Shonda to bring this up now. It was so long ago. And really, Shonda’s career is as good as ever while Heigl is steadily fading into obscurity. You won the battle and the war a long time ago, Shonda. Let’s leave this in the past now and move on.
I always felt it was a non-apology apology to, instead of apologizing for your behavior, to instead say, ‘I’m sorry you feel that way.’
No, I didn’t ask you to apologize for my feelings. I asked you to apologize for your behavior. It’s so patronizing and rude IMO