Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl, 2010. Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock
Coming to her defense. Josh Duhamel had nothing but positive things to say about working with Katherine Heigl.
“Katie Heigl gets a bad rap, but she’s awesome.” the Shotgun Wedding actor, 50, said during the Monday, January 30, episode of the “Chicks in the Office” podcast. “She’s great.”
Duhamel and the 27 Dresses actress, 44, starred alongside one another in the 2010 film, Life As We Know It. At the time, Heigl was perceived as someone who was “difficult” to work with due to her tense words about her experience on Grey’s Anatomy, which led to her eventual exit.
“She probably said some things that she probably wishes she could’ve taken back but my experience, on and offscreen with her, was awesome,” Duhamel reflected.
During the filming of the comedy, director Greg Berlanti also had positive things to say about his experience with Heigl and told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 he “would work with her again in a heartbeat.”
Heigl played Dr. Izzie Stevens on Grey’s for six seasons. In 2007, she won a primetime Emmy award for her role but the following year, she withdrew herself from consideration before nominations were announced because she didn’t think the “material” she was given was worthy of the award. After her comments made headlines, the Ugly Truth star apologized to the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes.
Controversy sparked for Heigl again when she candidly commented on the ABC drama’s long work days while appearing on The Late Show With David Letterman in 2009, calling their schedule “cruel and mean.”
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel at Warner Bros ShoWest Convention, March 2010. Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
In 2010, Heigl exited Grey’s in the middle of season 6. She started to focus on her family. In 2007, the One For the Money actress married Josh Kelley. The pair adopted daughters Naleigh and Adelaide in 2009 and 2012, respectively. In 2016, Heigl gave birth to the couple’s son Joshua.
However, despite her break from the spotlight, she continued to experience backlash from her words. In January 2021, the Knocked Up actress opened up about her reputation and how the backlash took a toll on her mental health.
“I may have said a couple of things you didn’t like, but then that escalated to ‘she’s ungrateful,’ then that escalated to ‘she’s difficult,’ and that escalated to ‘she’s unprofessional,’” she recalled to The Washington Post. “What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don’t like? Now, I’m 42, and that s–t pisses me off.”
She continued: “At the time, I was just quickly told to shut the f–k up. The more I said I was sorry, the more they wanted it. The more terrified and scared I was of doing something wrong, the more I came across like I had really done something horribly wrong.”