Katherine Heigl Pulls Name From Emmy Race; Blames ‘Grey’s’ Material

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Katherine Heigl will not be an Emmy contender this year.

The “Grey’s Anatomy” star, who won Best Actress at the Emmys last year, has pulled her name from the list of contenders for the 2008 ceremony, blaming her withdrawal on the show’s scripts.

“I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention,” she told the Los Angeles Times’ Gold Derby.

During Heigl’s Emmy-wining Season 3 performance, “Grey’s Anatomy” was watched by 18.7 million for the season. Season 4 was seen by 14.4 million people on average.

Besides her veiled jab at the ABC show, Heigl suggested having her name on the ballot could potentially steal the Emmy spotlight from another performer.

“In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials,” she said.

When contacted by Access Hollywood, a rep for ABC had no comment on Heigl’s Emmy decision.

Heigl isn’t the first “Grey’s” star to pull their name from Emmy consideration.

Last April, former castmate Isaiah Washington chose not to submit his name to the jury panel.

This also isn’t the first time Heigl slammed the material for a project she starred in.

Last summer, after the blockbuster success of “Knocked Up,” she told Vanity Fair she thought the film was “a little sexist.”

However, she backtracked from her comment as the article hit the newsstands.

“It’s important to me to take a minute and clarify the quote about ‘Knocked Up’ in Vanity Fair,” Heigl, said in a statement to the magazine.

Heigl said she was prompted into making a clarification statement about her comments so people understood where she was coming from.

“I was responding to previous reviews about the movie the interviewer brought to my attention,” Heigl said in the statement. “My motive was to encourage other women like myself to not take that element of the movie too seriously and to remember that it’s a broad comedy.

“Although I stand behind my opinion, I’m disheartened that it has become the focus of my experience with the movie. The truth is, it was the best filming experience of my career. Every person that was a part of making ‘Knocked Up’ helped to encourage, support and inspire me. I never intended for anyone to think otherwise.”

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