It’s 2008.
In theaters, the movie “The Reader” produced by Harvey Weinstein and the movie “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” written and directed by Woody Allen have been successful at the box office.
But there’s another movie that everyone is talking about. “27 Dresses” starring Katherine Heigl. Written and directed by two women, the film tells the story of Jane, who somehow ends up being a bridesmaid 27 times. She’s in love with a man, and he’s in love with her sister (though James Marsden is single and right around the corner), but he has to stand by her sister’s side on her wedding day. We watch her struggle with the idea of not being. .
I would like to record that 27 Dresses gave me a completely unrealistic idea of what my 20s and early 30s would be like. Surprisingly, I’ve never been a bridesmaid 27 times, and I’ve definitely never been to an underwater wedding, a goth wedding, or a Gone with the Wind themed wedding. there is no.
Nevertheless, aside from an unbelievable opening scene in which Jane attends two weddings in one night (stress…no more), 27 Dresses is relatively okay for a 2000s movie. There was no. Especially considering the name of the movie that was released at the same time.
Watch: Katherine Heigl on being labeled ‘rude’. The post follows the video.
But by the end of 2008, it will be Katherine Heigl, not Harvey Weinstein or Woody Allen, who will be banned from Hollywood.
Her crime? Be unconsciously, unflinchingly…honest.
In a Vanity Fair profile in early 2008, Heigl was asked about her decision to play Izzie Stevens on the top-rated medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. Breaking one of the unspoken “rules” of stardom, she admitted that writing for prime-time television comes with commercial considerations.
“It was a ratings ploy,” she said of a recent dramatic storyline involving her character. “That was definitely an event that shocked people. It was unpredictable and people didn’t see it coming. This is our fourth season. There’s not a lot of spontaneity left. “And business is business, and I understand that, but I want to be there.” There needs to be some collaboration between the business side and the creative side, and some way to keep it real. There is. ”
Later in the interview, Heigl was asked about Judd Apatow’s 2007 film Knocked Up, which shot her to a new level of fame.
“It was a little sexist,” she told Vanity Fair. “The women are portrayed as shrewd, humorless, and uptight, and the men are portrayed as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. The characters are exaggerated, and some days I struggled with that. I did. I’m playing.” “What a bitch? Why is she such a killjoy? Why do you portray women this way? 98 percent of the time it was a great experience, but it was hard for me to like this movie.”
However, a statement Heigl released later that year irreparably damaged her future in Hollywood.
She won the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Grey’s Anatomy in 2007 and was expected to be nominated for the same award in 2008, but Heigl declined.
“I didn’t feel like I had the caliber to be nominated for an Emmy this season, so in order to maintain the integrity of the Academy organization, I withdrew my name from the nominations,” she said. .
“Plus, we didn’t want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress given such material.”
Listen to Mama Mia’s daily entertainment podcast to hear about Katherine Heigl’s villainous storyline that takes an unexpected turn.
The decision was understandably interpreted as a criticism of Grey’s Anatomy creator, head writer, and executive producer Shonda Rhimes.
From that point on, rumors about Heigl’s on-set behavior dominated the gossip pages and her reputation was tarnished.
While speaking with David Letterman in 2009, she was asked about the new season of Grey’s Anatomy.
“The first day we came back was Wednesday, and it was, I’m going to keep saying this because I hope they’re embarrassed, but it was a 17-hour work day, which was brutal. I think it’s despicable,” she said.
A few days later, a source said it was actually Heigl’s fault that the 17-hour work days had to occur in the first place.
“Poor Katherine Heigl,” said journalist Ken Levine. “What she didn’t add was that this ‘brutal’ filming schedule was just to accommodate her and her needs. The producers were kind enough to arrange things so she could go out promoting her new movie. Also, due to union rules, “producers had to pay hefty overtime pay and penalties to make this happen. The only gratitude they get is if Katherine Heigl embarrasses them.” to appear on national television in hopes of
Despite the damage to his reputation, Heigl still appeared in big-budget films alongside some of Hollywood’s most famous men. The Ugly Truth starring Gerard Butler was released in 2009, Killers starring Ashton Kutcher was released in 2010, and Life as We Know It starring Josh Duhamel was released in the same year. Ta.
However, in March 2010, Heigl reportedly did not show up to work on Grey’s Anatomy. Shonda Rhimes reached an agreement to terminate her contract immediately, and Izzie Stevens did not return to the show.
In a 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes said Heigl’s comments about the Emmys “stinged.”
“In some ways it hurt, but in some ways I wasn’t surprised,” she said.
Shonda Rhimes and Katherine Heigl. Image: Getty.
“When people show you who they are, believe it. I carry that with me all the time. It’s been very helpful to me.”
Since then, Rhimes has become more candid about her experience with Heigl. Rhimes told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014 that “Heigl wasn’t there” on set for her new show Scandal.
“I don’t put up with bullshit or mean people.”
That same year, Heigl addressed rumors that she was “rude” in an interview with talk show host Meredith Vieira that recently resurfaced.
“I’ve heard rumors that you’re very rude. What do you think?” Vieira asked the actor in 2014.
“You know, I’ve always said I don’t think I am, and now I’m going to be really honest: I don’t,” Heigl responded.
“I know that’s not true. I don’t have to think about it. I’m not a rude person, I’m not an unkind, mean person. I would never go out of my way or consciously manipulate someone’s emotions or feelings. I don’t mean to hurt you.” I like my job as long as I don’t make them feel bad or uncomfortable or unprofessional. ”
Heigl went on to say she plans to “keep standing up” for herself.
“I will never stop standing up for my right to be heard, my right to be treated respectfully and professionally in return, and my right to set boundaries. I am a strong woman and I’m not going to apologize for that.”
Two years later, Heigl co-star Seth Rogen spoke on the record about feeling “somewhat betrayed” by the comments about the film.
“When I was making the movie, to be honest, I thought, ‘I’ll probably make a dozen movies with her,'” he said in 2016.
“People seemed to like it,” he said. “We were fun together, we were having such a great time, and then when I heard later that she didn’t like it, didn’t seem to like the process, didn’t like the final product, I was like, That’s what happens – and your trust feels a little bit betrayed. ”
Heigl burned her bridges, and her career never recovered. In 2011, she appeared on New Year’s Eve with Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, and Sarah Jessica Parker, but she received harsh reviews. Her next film, One for the Money, released in 2012, was a box office hit and earned her a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actress.
Over the next few years, she was nominated for two more Golden Raspberries and had some forgettable film and television roles.
In 2016, Heigl apologized for his comments about Grey’s Anatomy’s Emmy nominations, calling them “embarrassing.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything publicly,” she told Howard Stern. “But at the time I didn’t think anyone would notice. I just kept quiet and didn’t submit, and then it became a hot topic and I felt like I had an obligation to make a statement.”
In recent years, there has been a reassessment of how the media reported and how we interpreted Mr. Heigl’s actions. The Washington Post’s 2021 feature was headlined, “Katherine Heigl is done with her apology,” and said, “Maybe, just maybe, Heigl’s backlash may have outweighed her crimes.” I argued.
Katherine Heigl from Firefly Lane. Image: Netflix.
Author Ashley Spencer wondered, “In a post-#MeToo world, a post-Trump world, isn’t it ridiculous that we’ve caused so much grief to women for speaking their minds?” .
In 2022, Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith Grey, addressed Heigl’s 2009 claims about grueling work hours on Grey’s Anatomy.
Pompeo told his co-star Kate Walsh on the Tell Me podcast: “I remember Mr. Heigl saying something on her talk show about our unusual working hours, That was 100 percent correct.”
“If she had said that today, she would have been a complete hero. But she was ahead of her time and spoke out about our crazy times, so of course she bashes women. Let us insult you and call you ungrateful.”
She continued, “She was fucking bullish for saying that. And she was telling the truth. She wasn’t lying.”
In 2024, Heigl will appear on the Primetime Emmy Awards stage with Grey’s Anatomy castmates Ellen Pompeo, Justin Chambers, James Pickens Jr. and Chandra Wilson, celebrating the show’s nearly 20-year anniversary. Congratulations on the broadcast. She said it was the first time she had met many of the cast in over 15 years.
Even after more than a decade of experience, most of us have a visceral reaction to Heigl’s actions. Don’t criticize pioneering women of color for not doing enough to write an Emmy-winning show. Don’t criticize the writing on your show as a “ratings ploy.” Don’t describe working 17 hours a day as “cruel and mean” if it’s because of your own schedule.
But our reaction to an outspoken woman who just sits back and shuts up and doesn’t follow the rules is to label her as “rude” or “entitled” or, God forbid, a “bitch”. Isn’t that what you mean? ?
Doesn’t this last label say the worst thing about successful women? That it’s an attribute that cancels out countless other parts of who she is and makes everything she’s accomplished completely unworthy?
Katherine Heigl’s story is an unpleasant reminder of the double standards that exist not only in Hollywood but in the wider social world. Because while Katherine Heigl seemed to have a tarnished name on her name, both in the industry and with viewers, starting in 2008, by the time people like Harvey Weinstein and Woody Allen were being questioned. Because it will take 10 years.
Even now, Hollywood movies and TV shows regularly feature men with truly disturbing histories. But “difficult” men are forgiven differently than “difficult” women. Their sin is part of them, not the whole. They can be socially inept or funny, playboys or romantics, uncontrollable or geniuses.
But since 2008, Katherine Heigl has been denied that luxury, which is nothing short of disrespectful.
And she paid the price for it with her career.
For more information about Claire Stevens, you can follow her on Instagram or listen to her podcast, Canceled, here.
Listen to Cancelled: Mamamia’s comedy podcast about what happens to celebrities when the world pays attention to them. Post follows the audio.
This article was originally published on April 28, 2022 and has since been updated.
Featured image: Meredith Vieira Shaw/NBC/Getty.
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