Katherine Heigl’s Grey’s Anatomy reunion with Ellen Pompeo and other members of the original cast at the 75th Emmy Awards shocked longtime fans who remembered that her 2010 exit from the long-running ABC series came under less-than-ideal circumstances. Some people (including myself) hoped the move might even mean that Izzie Stevens could even make a comeback in future episodes. Even after the Heigl-related drama appeared to be put to bed, however, rumors persist that the Meredith Grey actress is still holding a grudge, but I’m just not buying it.
Rumors Suggest Ellen Pompeo Is Still Mad At Katherine Heigl
The National Enquirer suggested (via Radar Online) that Ellen Pompeo still holds a grudge against Katherine Heigl for withdrawing her name from contention at the 2008 Emmy Awards and blaming Grey’s Anatomy’s writers for not being “given the material this season to warrant” consideration — a situation that Heigl has since admitted she mishandled. The tabloid alleges that despite Katherine Heigl’s groveling, Ellen Pompeo continues to refuse any olive branch and has zero interest in burying the hatchet with her former co-star.
Why I Can’t Believe There Is Still Tension Between The Grey’s Anatomy Veterans
However, I can’t believe that these claims hold any water. I’ve been a Grey’s Anatomy fan since the beginning and have rewatched many of the episodes over the years (from different starting points, depending on the era I’m looking for). I’ve also paid attention to news regarding the cast members and things they’ve said about the medical drama, regardless of whether or not they’re still on it. Several events over the past years seem to indicate that not only was there genuine friendship between the actresses when they held hands on stage at the Emmys this year, but that any tension has long since been resolved.
First of all, in 2022 Ellen Pompeo raved about Katherine Heigl for speaking out in 2009 about the 17-hour days they were made to work in the early seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, saying on her podcast Tell Me that it was a “fucking ballsy” move, as Pompeo continued:
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. When the truth is, she’s 100 percent honest and it’s absolutely correct what she said.
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While that incident wasn’t directly related to the 2008 Emmys drama, it doesn’t seem like Ellen Pompeo would go out of her way to laud her former colleague like that if she were still carrying a grudge.
Furthermore, Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl reunited in 2023 to interview each other for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, where they talked about their kids, careers and, of course, the backlash Heigl had faced back in the day. Pompeo again said that the Izzie Stevens actress had been ahead of her time in advocating for herself.
The last reason it’s hard for me to believe that the Grey’s Anatomy EP still holds a grudge against Katherine Heigl is because Ellen Pompeo simply doesn’t seem to be the type to carry around that kind of negativity. The behind-the-scenes issues with Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo have been well-documented, but despite the actors not speaking for years after McDreamy was killed off in 2014, she played a vital role in getting him to return for several episodes in 2020.
In addition to that, Ellen Pompeo also famously butted heads with Denzel Washington when he directed one of Grey’s Anatomy’s best episodes, Season 12’s “The Sound of Silence.” However, in recalling all the times Meredith Grey has almost died on the show, she named that episode as her favorite, saying on her podcast:
Definitely I would rate that as one of my favorite episodes of all time, and getting to work with one of my favorite acting heroes was definitely one of the top two highlights of making the show over all these seasons.
Even in recalling how much tempers flared on set of that high-intensity episode, Ellen Pompeo still recalls working with Denzel Washington as one of the best moments of her Grey’s Anatomy career. To me, that doesn’t sound like someone who would be carrying around the weight of Katherine Heigl’s actions of over a decade ago.
Whether or not that means we’ll see Izzie Stevens on Grey’s Anatomy anytime in the future is unknown, but we do know that Meredith Grey will appear in the premiere of Season 20, when Grey’s Anatomy returns to ABC at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, March 14. In the meantime, you can get caught up by rewatching any of the first 19 seasons with a Netflix subscription.