Katherine Heigl made not-so-flattering headlines in 2008 when she declined Emmy consideration for her work on Grey’s Anatomy. During a Wednesday appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the actress attempted to clarify and explain the decision, admitting that she wishes she had handled it differently.
“I wasn’t feeling good about my work that season, no,” Heigl said. “And what you have to do as an actor if you want to get nominated is you have to submit your work … and that year I said, ‘I’m not going to submit; I can’t find anything I feel good about.’”
Heigl’s decision not to enter the Emmys race became a highly publicized controversy at the time, particularly because she had won the the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Dr. Izzie Stevens for the show’s third season the year prior.
“There was a part of me that thought, because I had won the year before, that I needed juicy, dramatic, emotional material, and I just didn’t have that that season,” Heigl explained, although careful to not blame the writers by adding, “I think there were 12 series regulars on that show, and everybody deserved their juicy, dramatic, emotional season. I’m not a writer, but I imagine it must be very difficult to do that for everybody.”
When the story that she was eschewing Emmy consideration blew up, Heigl said that she was “really embarrassed” and personally apologized to Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Shonda Rhimes.
The Emmy drama literally has nothing to do with why her career went wrong. She left the show overnight during season 6 (3 years after the Emmy backlash) to focus on her adoption and movies. Shonda told her to not bother coming back.
Of course her movies career went nowhere and the fact that she left the show in the middle of her Grey's contract gave her an awful reputation. Reliability is key.
fff I still do NOT and will NEVER understand why would someone do this like what went thru your head? even if you weren't good enough why do this? I'd like well damN!! I don't even think I was good and they think I was and wouldn't even say I didn't think I was good. Her career nowadays tho
I still do NOT and will NEVER understand why would someone do this like what went thru your head? 
and wouldn't even say I didn't think I was good. Her career nowadays tho