Katherine Heigl says she ‘felt betrayed’ by Hollywood backlash to Grey’s Anatomy and Knocked Up comments

Katherine Heigl has reflected on feeling “betrayed” by the entertainment industry for “turning” on her.

The actor shot to fame in the 2000s with her role as Izzie Stevens in Grey’s Anatomy, and had lead roles in high-profile films including Knocked Up and 27 Dresses.

However, Heigl, 44, found herself falling out of favour with studio bosses after sharing her honest thoughts about the projects that made her name.

These comments featured in a 2008 Vanity Fair interview, in which she referred to her unpredictable character arc in Grey’s Anatomy as a “ratings ploy”.

In the same interview, she called Knocked Up, which was written and directed by Judd Apatow, “a little sexist”.

Over the years, Heigl has reflected on being ostracised by Hollywood after being labelled “difficult” to work with, something she said brought her to therapy.

“I started going because of the scrutiny,” she told Howard Stern in 2016. “I was not handling it well. I was feeling completely like the biggest piece of s*** on the bottom of your shoe.”

In a new interview in Red’s February 2023 issue, which is on sale now, Heigl said: “I’m not the only person in the industry who’s had ups and downs, but it’s like, as soon as things were going too well, there was this need to say, ‘Slow down there – let’s humble her.’”

She continued: “I felt betrayed. I felt confused, wondering, ‘How could they turn on me so quickly? I’m just trying to entertain people.”

Heigl has apologised numerous times over the years, but now said that she regrets this in some ways as “it made me weaker in people’s eyes”.

“I kept apologising, which I now realise just kept giving the whole thing a heartbeat,” she explained. “I thought self-flagellation in front of everybody would make them happy, but actually it made me weaker in people’s eyes and made me feel weak. I now think that one apology was enough.”

In December, Heigl spoke about her struggles with balancing motherhood and work.

The actor recalled finding it difficult to get time away from filming Grey’s Anatomy in order to bond with her newly adopted daughter at the time, Naleigh, who is now 13.

Heigl can currently be seen in Netflix series Firefly Lane.