Katherine Heigl says she felt 'betrayed' when people turned on her after controversial comments about 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Knocked Up'

• Katherine Heigl felt "betrayed" following backlash to controversial comments she made in 2008.
• The star felt people turned on her after she criticized "Grey's Anatomy" and "Knocked Up."

While Katherine Heigl's career has had a resurgence in the last few years thanks to projects like "Suits" and "Firefly Lane," the star hasn't had an easy time regaining control of her career after she made controversial comments about "Knocked Up" and "Grey's Anatomy" back in 2008.

In a now infamous interview with Vanity Fair, the star called her "Grey's Anatomy" character arc in season four a "rating's ploy," and said that "Knocked Up" was "a little sexist," although she pointed out that she enjoyed working on the film with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen.

Heigl has dealt with the ramifications of the interview over the years, but she recently spoke to Red magazine for its February 2023 issue (via Yahoo) about feeling "betrayed" by the backlash.

The actor said: "I'm not the only person in the industry who's had ups and downs, but it's like, as soon as things were going too well, there was this need to say, 'Slow down there — let's humble her.'"

Heigl went on to say that she was confused by just how quickly things changed for her.

She said: "I felt betrayed. I felt confused, wondering, 'How could they turn on me so quickly? I'm just trying to entertain people.'"

Although the "27 Dresses" and "The Ugly Truth" star has apologized numerous times for her comments, she said that apologizing has done more harm than good because "it made me weaker in people's eyes."

Heigl explained that by apologizing, she was just keeping the issue alive, which only made things worse, and that she should've only apologized once.

She added: I kept apologizing, which I now realize just kept giving the whole thing a heartbeat. I thought self-flagellation in front of everybody would make them happy, but actually, it made me weaker in people's eyes and made me feel weak. I now think that one apology was enough."

The actor said that she'll "always stand up for things I believe in," but pointed out that "airing dirty laundry is not necessary and will just fuel gossip."