Katherine Heigl Addresses “Grey's Anatomy” Emmys Controversy 16 Years Later: 'I Wasn't Trying to Be a D---'

"I would never be so bold or so arrogant to turn down a nomination,” Heigl said on the 'Let's Be Clear' podcast

Katherine Heigl is clearing the air about her 2008 Emmys controversy.

On a recent Let's Be Clear podcast episode, the Grey's Anatomy alum, 45, told host Shannen Doherty that she didn't turn down an Emmy nomination that year, despite the long-held rumor that she did.

Actors and actresses have to submit their work to be considered for Emmy nominations, and Heigl told the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star, "I didn't turn it down ... I just didn't submit my work that year."

"I should've said nothing. I should've just said, 'Oh, I forgot,' " the mom of three said. "Because it created such a maelstrom that was so unnecessary."

A year earlier at the 2007 Emmys, Heigl won best supporting actress in a drama series for her role as Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy.

Related: Katherine Heigl Says 'No Part' of Her 'Imagined a Bad Reaction' for Blunt Talk About 'Grey's Anatomy'

The Firefly Lane star confessed that, at the time, she was trying to make a "snarky" point about the material she was given because she didn't feel her work warranted Emmy consideration.

"I just wasn't proud of my work," she said. "I would never be so bold or so arrogant to turn down a nomination. I would take that nomination. If it came my way, I'd be down."

"I was trying to be honorable, I guess. I was trying to have some integrity. I wasn't trying to be a d---," she added with a laugh, before the actresses spoke about how Heigl's actions at the time would've been perceived if she were a man.

Related: 'Grey's Anatomy' Cast: Where Are They Now?

Instead of quietly not submitting her name in 2008, the 27 Dresses star released a statement, published by Entertainment Weekly and said in part, "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination."

She added that she wanted to "maintain the integrity of the academy organization. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."

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On the podcast, the Knocked Up star told Doherty that she was "shamed" for her actions by the industry at the time, and it changed the way she behaved at work because she tried to be more "quiet" and "polite" and "sweet," almost to the point of "disappearing."

"It still didn't work," she said, with a laugh. "So, I hit 40 and I went 'f--- this, life is really too short.' "

Heigl continued, "I just want to be myself," and said she never intends to make people "feel bad" or "bully" them.

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"I don't like being bullied either," she went on, adding that her reaction to someone treating her badly is sometimes not "calm."

"I tend to get out my boxing gloves," she concluded, before going on to praise Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes for forging her character.

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