Katherine Heigl Suspends Contract Talks
Fans adore Katherine Heigl, but the 27-year old actress isn't feeling the love from the network that broadcasts her hit show.
A source tells People that Heigl has dropped out of contract talks with the producers of Grey's Anatomy over salary.
"Katie is disappointed and hurt that Touchstone doesn't value her as much as her other co-stars, especially Sandra Oh and Isaiah Washington," the source says.
Heigl plays Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on the ABC hit medical drama.
A rep for ABC Touchstone TV declined comment. We will have more information on this situation as it develops. Presumably, Katherine has merely postponed contract negotiations until a later date, and is not necessarily planning to leave Grey's Anatomy. Hopefully, the sides will come together and this member of the terrific ensemble cast will be retained.
February 28th, 2007 10:34 AM
This sucks. Both Katherine and Kate potentially leaving. Way to kill your entire male audience in one go.
I would stop watching if Katherine was not on the show. She is amazing.
February 28th, 2007 11:44 AM
I really hope they can work this out. I am not happy with the way Izzie is acting about the whole Callie and George thing but i would hate to see her leave.....I really think they should all get comprable pay because everyone of the actors/actress on the show are important and it wouldn't be GA without out them....
And if you are reading this Shonda....i know you want to do a spinoff but please don't take Kate we love her as Addison on GA.
February 28th, 2007 12:12 PM
i say spinoff katherine and keep kate..
February 28th, 2007 1:34 PM
People love Izzie way more than Burke.
And I know people definetly love Katherine more than Isiah.
February 28th, 2007 1:39 PM
^^ Not necessarily true.
February 28th, 2007 1:41 PM
I think Katherine is acting like her character of late, whiny! What was up with the closing scene as Meredith was lying unresponsive on the table and Katherine starts with I believe, this, that and the other thing, George you shouldn't have married Callie, Meredith is possibly dead you idiot, who cares about what you believe!! She is becomming very annoying, she should be grateful she is on the best show on television and stop whining!!!
February 28th, 2007 1:51 PM
Katherine...Katherine...Listen....QUIT BITCHIN!!!! That is all you have been doing lately. It is all about you isn't it? Well guess what...it is not! It is about touching your audience and being honored to have been one of the few people to be chosen to be on such a great show!!!
February 28th, 2007 2:27 PM
She had an interesting story line in season 2 but this season she does a lot of baking and judging others. She should complain more about her storyline instead of her contract and the contract will come.
February 28th, 2007 3:46 PM
I hope izzie stays. if she doesnt i WILL NOT watch the show. she CANT leaveeee!!!!if i could choose between isaiah and katherine i would choose katherine to stay 99.9%.....she rocks....
February 28th, 2007 3:55 PM
http://www.usmagazine.com/heigls_hospital_stay_extended
February 28th, 2007 6:11 PM
I agree with Wild about Grey 2/28/07,1:41pm. The story revolving inside the show is NOT about IZZIE STEVENS. She was cast for the part of Izzie, NOT Mer, (or) Cristina. Ms Heigl NEEDS to understand that the WORLD is NOT revolving around her .She is part of an ensemble. Everyone has their part to play in this show. Comparing herself to Sandra Oh is just stupid. First and foremost Sandra Oh is an outstanding actor. She puts ALL of herself in any role she plays. She makes you believe she is this person she is playing. Katherine needs to remember that this is a story in Shonda Rhimes head and how it will play out is anybodys guess. ( even Shonda's) Katherine Heigl needs to grow up.
February 28th, 2007 7:01 PM
i love izzie! katherine heigl is a good actress. if anyone needs proof, i refer them to the last scene in the last episode when she was in the hallway with denny. that girl can act with just her eyes. now, if that's not enough proof to get her as much money as her co-stars then i don't know what is.
as for the negative reaction to her character development, true grey's fans should realize that the writers must have some reason for making izzie so unlikeable. i may not agree with how she's doing it but i understand why izzie is so down on george and callie. george's father just died. then he became a sex machine at which point, callie stared avoiding him. then he asks her to marry him! the fact that callie actually married him makes me think she may have taken a little advantage of him.
izzie never said george shouldn't be with callie. she just said that things were going too fast. i actually agree with her on this. she's his best friend, for heavens sake! who's gonna tell him that if not her?
February 28th, 2007 7:16 PM
Hey, if you go to www.people.com, there is a new article that says she is not leaving. i love her, and derek very much!!
February 28th, 2007 11:53 PM
well, thank goodness for that! (^@,^)
i think we have all been reacting to a piece of news that may not have been true, anyway. people.com had put this item out yesterday and then, all of a sudden, they put out another one today that entirely contradicts the other. i mean, seriously! couldn't they have confirmed the rumor first before putting it on their website?
guys, this is not the first time reporters have passed a rumor off as true and i'm sure it won't be the last. i hope we have all learned a lesson from this one.
March 1st, 2007 4:57 AM
What is it about this show that keep the rumors flying. This show is a success because of the entire cast and crew not just a select few. Of course there are going to be problems rise but how they are handled is what makes the differance. Some people seem to have made it their personal mission to keep things stirred up. For the true fans that is just so irritating. I want to enjoy the show and hate to see it fall apart from the inside.
March 1st, 2007 8:09 AM
Seems to me KH did have an agenda when she couldn't keep her mouth shut. I enjoy the entire cast and believe it is the entire cast and writings that makes the show the success that it is (not one or two people), but when someone starts making demands... I would definitely let them loose.
March 1st, 2007 9:12 AM
I was never a fan of Izzie Stevens since her stupid love story with Duquette and the actress leaves me cold she talks too much I have seen her on Oprah she gives the impression to be a spoiled girl. I do recognize that in some scenes she did a great job but I realize that Izzie Stevens is not such a nice person I came to this conclusion by watching the first season DVD again. She wants everything her way and she can be very sarcastic on screen.
March 1st, 2007 9:08 PM
Sounds like someone publist leaked this story to the press to get their client the raise they felt she desvered.
You see, the media is out to get a story anykind of story. When the fight between Patrick, T.R and Washington first broke out it just open the floodgates for the media to make up anykind of story on the cast that they want to.
It seems like the cast is acting like a bunch of spoiled and ungreatful brats(expect for Justin Chambers, James Pickard Jr. and Chandra Wilson)! They should all thank their lucky stars that they are on this amazing show that is such a hit. The cast of ER never acted like this.
It also seems like to me that the on-set drama is more interesting then what is going on in season three.
March 1st, 2007 11:18 PM
Katherine Heigl does a great job of portraying Izzie. In my opinion, she also does a great job of self promotion. Katherine Heigl has been seen on every talk show and in every magazine. She's a beautiful woman, but over exposure is almost as lethal as under exposure in Hollywood. Although her character is less important to me than the others, I really liked her with Alex in season one and part of season two. But, I never bought the whole Denny Duquette story line and this year her character has been barely tolerable most of the time. For me there are four members of the cast that are absolutely irriplaceable and that is Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Pompeo, Isaiah Washington, and Sandra Oh. I also really like Justin Chambers and hope that they expand upon his character and I love Chandra Wilson and think that she is kind of the glue that holds the show together. Even so, I hope Katherine settles her contract disputes and remains on the show because I really do think the chemistry is perfect with the original nine actors and that if any of them were to go the show would be worse for the change. But if she decides to go, I would continue to watch. Just keep Meredith and Derek and Burke and Cristina together and I am a happy fan.
March 1st, 2007 11:53 PM
You know, Overit, we may not know what went on behind the scenes of ER back in the George Clooney days. One of the downsides of technology is that the general public is a party to a lot more of the dissention than we were in the past. When something happens today, by tomorrow it is all over the internet. That wasn't the case 10 years ago.
I'm not saying that there are not problems on the set of GA. When you take a relatively large cast of actors with some success but no star status among them, it is easy to get a little bit of an ego problem going on when the show takes off like this one has. There are probably issues of billing (Ellen first, Sandra Oh second, Isaiah and Patrick special billing at the end); issues of salary equity, issues of screen time. I suspect that was the case on ER, too, we just didn't have constant media attention giving us the figurative blow by blow.
Patrick Dempsey and Sandra Oh seem to have the best attitude about the publicity. Sandra keeps a very low profile and Patrick is gracious when interviewed, but doesn't seek out the attention.
Ellen has had her battles with the press over her supposed eating disorder and supposed diva attitude on the set. None of which is probably true. Isaiah has of course been the brunt of the media hailstorm since October and is hounded by the press. In one video clip on another online site just put up a few days ago reporters ambushed him as he was leaving a restaurant with his wife through a back door, throwing questions at him about how things were on the set and trying to get him to say something negative about either TR or Katherine. He handled them with a smile, charm and much more graciousness than I would have been able to muster as they trailed him all the way to his car. His wife looked frightened and unsure. It was intrusive and in very bad taste on their part.
It seems to me sometime between the beginning years of ER and now, the media has become much more ruthless. Princess Diana and Biill Clinton seemed to be a turning point when as a people we decided it was okay for gossip hounds to try to ruin other people's lives in the name of freedom of the press and that if they were public figures they were fair game. I found the media assassination appalling in the case of Diana and Clinton. I find it equally appalling the past few months with Isaiah. Blowing it out of proportion, as Patrick has said repeatedly that the media has done, has completely colored the way some people think of this very talented actor. Just a few days ago Patrick Dempsey was quoted as saying that no one can deny that he, Isaiah, does beautiful work and that he brings passion and intensity to the character of Burke.
The power of the media is frightening when it is misused, such as when months later Ted Casablanca uses every opportunity to mention the fracas in his column just to keep things stirred up, as Bonnie mentioned in her post above. How sad that as fans of the show, we cannot just appreciate the beautiful work and not have to know about backstage bickering that colors our perception and enjoyment of the performance.
March 2nd, 2007 9:03 AM
NO! Izzie is a rock star! She can't leave she is my favorite! :(
March 2nd, 2007 11:29 AM
Well thanks Burke Backer for not riping into me and saying something mean. Your right, the media was different back then then it is now and I totally forgot about mentioning Sandra Oh and how she isn't always in the press for negative things or Patrick. But still...the media sucks for just ripping into the cast like this just because they can't find any other television cast to report on.
March 3rd, 2007 5:53 AM
grey's anatomy is an ensemble show. they may focus a little bit more on the mer-der dynamic but all the characters contribute to it's success. otherwise, they would have done a show about only derek and meredith. it will definitely be a big loss if izzie or any of the interns and doctors leave.
i admire katherine for standing up for herself. she is under a long-term contract but actors have an option to renegotiate after a few years. no actor would ask for a lot of money at the beginning of a show when they still don't know if it would be a hit. it did become a hit, that's why they are all renegotiating their contracts. why else would the bosses even waste their time negotiating with her?
remember patrick dempsey's renegotiation just a few months ago? it also caused quite a stir then. notice any similarity? i think it's touchstone who leaked both negotiations to gain some media leverage ("let's make the actress look greedy so we can keep giving her crappy pay"). I don't think she's whiny. she's just asking for what she deserves and what she deserves is equal pay.
March 3rd, 2007 6:45 PM
I don't believe she deserves the same pay as IW and SO, if that's what she's saying. You have to look at their experience. PD, SO and IW have been in the business much longer, and are phenomenal actors with numerous films and/or stage work on their resume. They were household names before they started on Greys, maybe not SO, but IW and PD. They've been around since the early 80's. I agree she should get an increase, along with everyone else because the show is doing so well, but equal pay to SO and IW...no. And comparing herself to IW and SO, you have to wonder if she's serious. If I had to put my money on who leaked the story, and I would say it was her PR people, and I don't think she's as upset has she pretends to be or as the media is making her out to be. It's just another way to stay in the news.
March 3rd, 2007 7:52 PM
To an extent, it matters how long you have been in the whole show biz, but we also need to look at the quality of work. SO, IW, PD are very good actors, but so is Katherine. We can't complain she is whinny, because she is just doing her job. What she is onscreen does not necessarily reflect who she is off screen. The fact that people believe she is a whinny charecter off screen portrays that she is such a good actress. There is nothing in her asking for a raise, since her charecter has developed so much more, and it is unfair if she is not appreciated for what she does.