Seth Rogen has been doing press to promote Sausage Party, an animated R-rated comedy that is strictly for adults. (I’m sure that many parents will mistakenly take their kids to it though.) The film also features the voices of Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill and Bill Hader and is tracking very positively on Rotten Tomatoes with an 88% fresh rating. You can see the red band trailer here, it made me laugh a few times.
In an appearance on Watch What Happens Live over the weekend, Rogen was asked about his Knocked Up costar Katherine Heigl’s comments on Howard Stern earlier this year that she thinks he’s still mad at her for calling the film sexist. (He was also asked about Bieber and Bloom’s nude pics, you can see that amusing clip on EW.) Knocked Up came out in 2007 and Heigl’s criticism was one of the first, but not the only times, that she negatively commented on her work to the press. There were also many stories about her diva behavior on various sets, with major news outlets and industry papers covering her resulting career downturn. (That’s just background for Rogen’s comments that she shouldn’t have lost job opportunities for pointing out that Knocked Up was sexist. There was much more to it.) Anyway Rogen was gracious towards Heigl on WWHL, and then on Howard Stern on Monday he got into it a little more. Here’s some of what he said on both shows:
WWHL caller: Katherine Heigl said on Stern she’d like to work with you again but you’re still mad at her. Would you say that’s true?
No, I was never mad. I was never that mad, honestly. I assumed she she didn’t want to work with us anymore, honestly, because she seemed to not like the result of the work we did together. She did not seem entirely pleased with it afterward. I think that was the root of everything. But honestly it was so long ago, and I have damaged my brain so poorly in the last few years, I have a hard time even recalling what it was about or even who was supposed to be mad at who, and I have no bad feelings towards her at all, honestly.Stern: Did you hear our show when we had Katherine Heigl on?
I do remember that interaction [with Katherine Heigl at a restaurant] It was not an unpleasant interaction. I thought she hated us. We made a movie, it was critically very well received. Financially it was probably still my most successful movie. Then we just heard she didn’t like it and that it seemed like she didn’t have a good experience making it and that she didn’t feel the product was reflective of how she thought she should be portrayed.When I saw her and she was acting as though everything was fine… I would imagine my reaction was more one of surprise.
On working with Heigl and later hearing she didn’t like the movie
As we were making the movie I was like ‘I would make a dozen movies with her.’ I thought we [had] a great dynamic. Then when I heard afterwards that she didn’t like it, that she seemed to not like the process, and she did not like the end product either… your trust feels somewhat betrayed. We have a very open process. We’re like, ‘You have the ability to say anything at any moment.’ I guess we weren’t all on the same page.On Heigl’s comments affecting her career
I respect the fact that maybe she realizes it has hurt her career. And I don’t want that to have happened to her at all. Because I’ve said a thousand stupid things, and I really like her … The only people in this situation who should in any way take anything from it is me and Judd, because we’re the ones she’s talking about. And for other people to not work with her because she didn’t like her experience with us I think is crazy.Robyn on Stern: Would you take a call [from Heigl]?
Of course. I saw Judd since then and the conversation we had was like ‘Yes, it’s great it’s wonderful that she’s apologizing.’ [She didn’t call either of them though] So that’s another thing, when I apologize to people, generally I don’t take a public forum to do it.
[From BravoTV and Howard Stern clip]
You can hear Rogen’s Stern clip on Vulture and BravoTV.com has the video of his WWHL comments. Rogen explained the situation well, apart from too graciously attributing Heigl’s downfall to that one comment she made about Knocked Up. Heigl didn’t bring up any objections when she was on set and then she trashed the film that helped launch her career, acted like everything was fine when she ran into Rogen in person, apologized over eight years later through the press but never personally contacted Rogen or director Judd Apatow to apologize in all that time. Note that they probably would have worked with her again if she reached out to them and that Rogen was really considering it. Now she’s doing ZzzQuil and kitty litter commercials. This wasn’t her only misstep, it was just one of many. She’s apologized but it’s like she still doesn’t get it.
Photos credit: FameFlynet and WENN
have they nothing better to do than stir up a nearly decade old, apparently one sided argument?
Thank you!
In Rogan’s defense, Heigl is the one bringing it up. She’s trying for relevance again.
Exactly! She was the one going on a mea culpa media parade. So obviously when interviewers have Seth Rogen scheduled, they are going to ask him about it.
He has not mentioned her in all these years before this.
The WWHL one was a viewer call.
So before someone inevitably rewrites history by claiming that this is just sexism, that Knocked Up was sexist (and that Katherine Heigl would have been fine if she were a man!), can I just point out that:
1) Typically professional actors don’t badmouth their own films before they come out if they don’t want reputational damage
2) Plenty of MALE actors who behaved poorly on sets were reputationally damaged by it, especially if the films did poorly afterwards *cough Ed Norton cough *. They just happened to be character actors who could afford to rebuild their careers.
and most importantly
3) Her career wasn’t damaged by knocking Knocked Up, it was damaged by knocking Knocked Up, refusing to be put forward for an Emmy for Grey’s Anatomy, badmouthing the crew and other actors on Grey’s, acting poorly on the set of Grey’s to try to be let out of her contract and starring in crappy rom coms that did poorly while getting 10 million dollars a film. And the last one was the most important. If she’d been financially successful, no one would have cared.
The failure of her career is NOT SEXIST. She had a crazy momager and made terrible decisions. She is white, blonde and thin. She’s gotten more chances than most actresses will ever get. Just because she’s thrown them away doesn’t mean that it’s patriarchy’s fault.
She’s never had a good rep on Hollywood, neither did her mother and it’s been said many times that her crazy stage mom/momager cost her roles (on top of her attitude).
I’m surprised she’s still getting roles. She should be grateful for Greys, that show is the reason that people know her.
All of this. Have heard horror stories for years about her mother’s antics and demands causing Katherine work. She should have found actual qualified representation years ago.
She was on a TV show in the late ’90’s called “Roswell”(on the WB) I was a big fan at the time it was one of those coming of age style shows but with aliens interacting with humans.
Katherine was on that show and caused a lot of trouble, she was really young there, early 20’s or younger.
In the second season of Roswell, she said that she was supposed to be a featured actress and not part of an ensemble so she was going to quit unless they gave her more to do. That changed the show’s dynamic because she was given more time on the show than Liz, who was supposed to be the star of the show. It was really annoying as a fan of the original idea of the show.
She also said in interviews that she didn’t like her story line for the last season, so she would show up really late to intentionally hold up production to show her distaste for her story line.
Kick ass and take names Elle!
Very thorough analysis. She just always looked like she had sh*t on her lip, the way she was always sneering at that time.
The Rock is literally doing this right now. He’s actually blasting a movie that is still filming! And we know even if it bombs he won’t be reprimanded or hurt in any way. C’mon now.
I don’t think he said anything about the movie, or did I miss it? He was just talking about one actor in the movie.
Mango most comments admit that he was unprofessional. BUT, the rock has a large body of work, has worked his way up and I’ve never ( to my knowledge) heard negative things about him from the many actors, film crews, directors, writers and so on.
Yes it was unprofessional of him and I was shocked he did vented like this. However, Katherine has built up a bad rapt for herself over her career and that is the reason posters may be less inclined to support or feel empathy for her.
He isn’t blasting the film. He made a point of saying his genuine anger fit the character and he perhaps gave a better performance because of it. I don’t think many people would avoid a movie they wanted to see because a few of the actors had behind the scene tension. However, the star of the movie saying the film is sexist and didn’t turn out well might deter people who were interested from seeing it in the theater. Either they decide not to see the movie or it goes on the “rent” list.
Plus, it has a built in, established fan base. If you watched the first seven I doubt you would skip number eight because one actor didn’t have the best time making it. When it is a non-franchise film you have to generate interest.
The Rock isn’t criticising the movie that made his career. Nor is he berating every person on set that he meets.
Agreed. What’s more, as with many “difficult” actors/actresses, there are so many to choose from, especially in the blonde, tall, thin, white category, why would she be hired when there are literally dozens of other blondies to call on? It would have been different if she were the unique/quirky ‘special’ actress like Winona, Emma, Zoey, Rashida, Maggie G, Rooney Mara, etc. They aren’t as easily replaced for a character. But there is nothing “individual” or special about Heigl. In fact, I dare say she’s not even the better of the blond tall white ladies. She’s average.
I think it says a lot that the supposed misogynistic, sexist, crass Seth Rogen shows so much more class than Heigl can seem to muster. The irony!!!!
Well said Ellie. She committed career suicide. All these missteps added up. Not only was she unprofessional, there were news stories about how her and her mom would hold up production or pitch a fit to the crew if they didn’t like the clothes or what craft services was putting out. How is that professional?
^Well said! And as Susannah pointed out up thread her diva like unprofessional was well rumoured since her Roswell days.
I thought she said the film was a little sexist. Is he exaggerating with the whole, she didn’t like the process or the end product?
Katherine said Knocked Up is “a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. … I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy?” She also said a few more things, but this was the major quote. It was terribly unprofessional of her, IMO. She signed on to the movie knowing the type of characters she and Seth would be portraying. To criticize after the fact is cheap.
100 percent accurate description of that craptastic movie, though. Just saying.
@NAYA
Yet she chose to participate. Katherine should have declined the project if she found the script so insulting, but since she didn’t, acting with a little professionalism is called for.
Eh, I don’t know if that’s really fair. Lots of actresses sign on to do stuff they don’t feel 100% on board with, because lots of actresses dream of starring in a movie. Heigl also later said (on Howard Stern) the same thing as Rogen re the freedom of the set on that film: “Judd allows everyone to be really free and improvise and whatever. Afterward, I was like, ‘Why is that where I went with this?’” She acknowledged SHE helped create a character she was uncomfortable with in the end. So, basically everybody’s to blame for that film’s weird portrayal of women and maturity.
Nobody forced her. She’s unprofessional and frankly, a bit dim. We all know better than to badmouth our coworkers, bosses, etc. She says stupid stuff on a whim and then tries to defend it or explain it rather than admit she just says things w/out thinking and probably much of it, not even true. I don’t believe she had a hard time on set or didn’t like working with those guys. I think she didn’t like the flack she saw after the movie came out and people judged it. She sided with “the people” for show and it bit her in the a$$. I have not missed her one bit. She’s way too full of herself, takes herself too seriously, and momager has had her convinced since she was a child that she’s a very special snow flake. She’s lucky she still gets any work at all even if it’s selling kitty litter.
I actually for once liked the viewpoint. Usually it’s the woman, who with natural instincts is the perfect calm mom who knows all, and then there’s the bumbling stupid dumb dad man who never gets it right. They are least played upon a different stereotype for once, where the woman was a little insecure and uptight, with a relaxed fun dad.
I love Seth in knocked up, and maybe it’s the old stoner in me, but he’s so datable to me in that movie 😊 and he is still oddly hot to me the more I hear him say in interviews. He seems pretty real and honest, and I like hearing his side. I think he’d be great to work with!
What I think is ironic about her comments about that film is that she does seem like an overbearing killjoy in real life. Every character she plays (from as far back as Roswell) she seems sour. That has to be her real self in the way that Seth Rogen is always himself
@Naya.
NM, just saw holly hobby posted exactly what I was going to say.
And yet she produced that $–tastic film known as “The Ugly Truth.” So it’s sexist if someone else produced a movie like Knocked Up but it’s perfectly ok when she’s the producer. That just shows she’s a hypocrite.
tbh when it came to knocked up i could see why she would think all the female characters were written as annoying cliches, so i don’t think she was wrong. the only wrong was to say it out loud, because she starred in the film and it was unprofessional. surprisingly, when seth rogen writes his own stuff his female characters are all well rounded and 3 dimensional as much as male characters (preacher was so unexpectedly good), not at all like apatow’s.
Seth came across really well here and I have no beef with the guy. Katherine kind of shot herself In the foot career wise (not just knocked up) and really should have had the conversation with them in the first place or better still not have signed on to do the movie.
I really think it was a case of her ego and what she perceived to be her fame clout back then. She thought that she was destine for big things and had no problems kicking those she had worked with on the way up.
I actually don’t think it was ego. While I think Rogen’s probably a nice guy, and he and his crew probably think they’re open for suggestion and criticism, I bet their movies are a very bro-frat-boy atmosphere that’s very difficult for a female to feel like she can be honest about her opinions on her role. I think her comments were probably her way of getting her feelings out because she felt like there wasn’t an outlet on the set. Was that the right time and place for those comments? No. Should she just not have done the movie if she had reservations? Probably. I really think she has foot in mouthitis.
I agree. I’m not a big fan of Seth just because those type of films are not my cup of tea, but he does take a high road here. First, if you are really sorry – apologize personally instead of making a public plea trying to win points with the public in the process. Second of all, you bad mouth someone and then run into them and act like nothing happened? I would be as surprised as he said he was in that moment.
He was very diplomatic. Way more so than Shonda. Katie burned a lot of bridges on her way up. It’s more than her comments about Knocked Up that tanked her career.
This. Was what she said unprofessional? Yes. Was what she said untrue? No. She maybe could have said it with distance (say 5-10 years) and not gotten flack, but not directly when it came out. In fact, most things she said about GA was true as well. Again, probably shouldn’t have said those things in interviews and kept it to herself, but not untrue.
I agree… she agreed to do something because it was a great opportunity and then when she saw the final result, it bothered her (and other women, although I feel if it came out now, it would get more criticism). she is a person. It was actually brave of her to say it and, yes, she paid a price – because no one wanted to hear that for whatever reason because people wanted to love that film. Was what she said really so bad? Just the last sentence really about being bothered by it IMO… I dont recall it being right when it came out but at some point after it was a success.
Meanwhile, Ellen Pompeo just said she and Shonda Rhimes had issues but learned to work with them. I dont follow her closely but I was never aware of that before. (Good Housekeeping interview)
I think people are very selective about who they give a really hard time… Not saying I know what she is like up close but handling success can be difficult and everyone has a different path.
If she had the chance to work with them again I bet she would never say boo about her chatacter. I also think that if by some chance now in this present day she was up for an award, there is no way in hell she would withdraw because of what she deemed bad writing. Why..? Because she is a tad more humble now and before she had an ego in thinking that her career could afford to act and say as she wanted to.
For the record I don’t think what she said about knocked up was that bad and sometimes interview questions can be framed in a way to get a controversial answer. However, Katherine has had every chance back then to soften, change, apologise or explain her answer in a more professional way
the only issue I have is with her comments is that she kept picking the exact same characters in all her other movies. She never once complained about those roles…and those characters were horrible clichés (in really bad movies). Most people wouldn’t have had a problem wit her if she would have had the guts to have these conversations with the people involved and not just to the press.
Tmc interesting about Ellen and shonda. Shonda does seem a bit strong and decisive, which people would LOVE if she looked like John Hamm right?
But I don’t think its fair to say, this movie launched her career ,what about My Father the Hero and Greys Anatomy?
I would say she is more recognizable for Grey’s than anything. She and Shonda are both still getting questions about a potential Izzie return, and it’s been 8 seasons since she left.
I am currently working my way through Grey’s, never saw an episode until last week, and I am so excited about the day that Heigl’s character is gone that I will probably through a huge party. Izzie is the most freaking annoying character ever and Heigl drives me mental. I have no idea when this is going to happen, only that I know it does.
While the show is so soapy it’s almost unwatchable, I can’t look away now. If they were to bring that horrible, whiny, idiotic shrew back, I would toss in the remote on it for good.
Looks like he took the high road. Good for him!
Katherine’s problems weren’t her comments or even her feud with Shonda. There are stars who have said and done way worse. For the record, I’ve always thought Judd Apatow was kind of a unprofessional, sexist sh*thead for what he did to Anne Hathaway even if Katherine’s behavior was unprofessional (although I agree with her comments on Knocked Up).
Her problem was that she just picked shitty projects and that her mom/manager demanded way too much money. If stars keep flopping, especially female stars, while still demanding to be paid insane amounts of money….it’s not going to end pretty. Most actors would have agreed to take a huge pay cut and do some indies or do some small ensemble roles to gain back their cred….she did none of that until she was completely desperate. She refused to humble herself and it backfired big time.
Judd Apatow and Anne Hathaway – what happened there?
@Lisa. Was curious on that too. Google brings up a Wiki entry that AH was originally cast in Knocked Up, but dropped out for creative reasons.
Apparently Anne didnt want to show “everything” during the birth scene and they clashed over that
What bothers me about this is that if she was a man, there would have been zero repercussions. Men in the film industries act like divas all. The. Time. But heaven forbid a woman acts the same way. Yeah it was pretty silly of her to trash a movie she had just filmed. Again though, men do this too! They just don’t get blacklisted for it! It really is unfair because I think she’s so talented. I do agree with her too. Knocked up is so sexist. The woman in it are crazy yelling winers and the men are lovable goof balls. Good movie but I don’t know. I guess it the industry.
True. Didn’t Chris Evans completely bash some of his previous films? I’m not talking about just a throwaway comment or an insinuation either. Either way, it’s not okay but there are definitely different standards.
I do think Katherine’s issue was less her comments, though, and more that her momager demanded crazy things in her contracts and lots of $$$$ for her to star in films.
Chris Evans bad mouthed one of his movies but he did clear up his words later. And that is the only incident I recall of Evans making rude comments.
As far as Heigle’s mom she should have been gone long before she was, but as we saw in the Sony hack women’s pay is not on par with men, even when women are bigger names. Maybe the mom is not wrong in wanting to get more money for her. But it should have been a proper agent doing the negotiations not a mom. It made Heigle look bad.
As far as the apology she needed to do both a face to face and a public apology. A public one because her comments were made in public. But she should have also talked to both men in person preferably before the interview was reported.
Missed opportunities.
She didn’t get blacklisted after Knocked Up though. She went on to film several rom-coms. Her movie career faltered when her films were critical and commercial flops and because of her alleged difficult behavior on set.
Even now, I wouldn’t say that she’s blacklisted. She still gets lead roles on TV, and does smaller movies. Her big tv comeback flopped last year, and she was still given another starring role on a new tv show. I don’t hate her as much as some people do, but I can’t feel sorry for her, as she’s been given so many chances.
Not true. See Alex Pettyfer (where is he?). Mel Gibson (I know he’s directed on project but he’s been persona non grata since slurgate), Alec Baldwin (back when he was making movies before 30 Rock. He and Kim Basinger were really unprofessional making the Marrying Man. That tanked both their careers for awhile).
The list goes on and on. It’s not just a woman thing.
Well, Alex had multiple chances, first with Beastly and then Magic Mike. He blew both of them.
These comments didn’t mess up her career — it was that her movies started to flop. If she continued to make money, Hollywood would still hire her. After Knocked Up, she did 27 Dresses and that was huge too.
I thought many of the same things she said about the movie. I was disappointed with many aspects of the movie. And those scenes of all those gross guys just sitting around getting high spouting bathroom humor lines was terribly unfunny, and I wasn’t impressed. I liked parts of the movie. I liked Katherine and the sister dynamic.
I like what I see in the threads today, ya know? and Seth, he came off super good here, also: Im going to watch Sausage Party ASAP… High even
As a feminist I think that this particular situation has nothi g to do with sexism. There are consistent stories about her unprofessional behaviour on movie sets. It’s not like she spoke up about the sexist story telling in Hollywood when all women are portraid as stuck up or not fun as she said about her character in Knocked up and got banned from Hollywood. She just acts like a superstar without actually working to earn that title. That is her main problem. And she reaffirmed that she is clueless about her goings when she started apologizing publically. I am with Seth on this. If you are sorry, do that by reaching out to that person personally. Admission of guilt is not the same as an apology.
That however does not mean there is no double standard. Just yesterday I say a bit from an Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy interview on their new film where Mr. Grey kept on yapping about how he loves doing small independent movies instead of studio films because according to him people do not wark as hard and are not that invested into their work on studio films. And that is fine?
I realize she’s made other mis-steps in her career, but I didn’t think her comments specifically about Knocked Up were that bad. Maybe I just thought she was presenting an objective criticism of how the characters were presented/depicted rather than bashing her co-star or director. Perhaps I’m lenient on this issue becauseI thought her comments had merit.
Please. Her entire early career was made up of her being cast as sexy-but-uptight. Greys, Ugly Truth, 27 Dresses, Life as We Know It. Then she decided to go all serious and that just doesn’t work for her. So if she really felt that bad and offended after Knocked Up, why did she eagerly step into the roles of the other movies with the same general plot lines? Even going so far as to give up Greys? Granted, her co-stars became a bit more physically attractive, but their characters were still sexist and stupid.
Rogen threw her a bone and probably pities her for ruining her own career. Would he work with her again? I truly doubt it. Neither has been in contact with the other in nearly a decade. If Heigl did not have so much pride, she would have contacted Rogen personally to apologize and express her interest in working with him again. Rogen has no need to contact her. What he has done here is as graciously as possible tell the public that he has no beef with Heigl in order to try and stop having to field questions about this issue every time he has to promote a movie.
Heigl was given a window of opportunity to make some hit rom-coms and she failed. Her movies were critically panned and did not do well at the box office. I really think her star would have faded anyway even if she had not had the bad reputation, but people like to kick a person when she is down, especially if that person comes off as ungrateful and annoying. Heigl’s romcom days are over anyway. She has not particularly aged well (like Jennifer Aniston) and with her public persona will have a hard time portraying sexy carefree characters. I wonder if she’ll be able to change any of that after having a biological child.
She made an accurate assessment of the movie. Possibly she did not feel comfortable bringing it up on set. I remember when she said it and totally agreed with her. Not very professional but it was true. I really enjoy her in films and am hopeful she can have a career comeback.