Why Do Stars Sabotage Their Stuff?

June 16, 2008 — -- You'd think after years of auditions and months on the set, you'd want to be rewarded for your work.

That is, unless you're Katherine Heigl. The "Grey's Anatomy" star bad-mouthed her show last week when she dropped out of this year's Emmy race and cemented her reputation as one of Hollywood's most temperamental talents.

"I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination," she said in a statement released by her publicist Thursday. "In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."

"Grey's" didn't take kindly to her criticism. An unnamed insider from the show told EW.com, "The show bent over backwards to accommodate her film schedule, and then she criticizes the show for lack of material? It's an ungrateful slap in the face to the very writers responsible for her Emmy win in the first place." (Indeed, Heigl thanked the show's writers when she won a best supporting actress Emmy last year.)

ABC and "Grey's" creator Shonda Rhimes declined to comment on Heigl's attack. But don't be surprised if Dr. Izzie Stevens doesn't stick around Seattle Grace much longer. A network insider said her flirtation with film, starring in "Knocked Up" and "27 Dresses," probably has her itching to get out of her "Grey's" contract and focus on the big screen full-time.

"It's pretty clear she wants off the show," said the network executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "That's a scorched earth comment. There's no other way to look at it. You just don't blow up your own writers. It's just an unspoken rule."

"Usually, once someone agrees to do a pilot, they're locked into the show for five years," the exec said. "When something like this happens, it's a tough dilemma for the network. You don't want to ruin a hit show, but you don't want to have a cancer on the set. Sometimes an actor tries to make things so miserable that they're forced to exit."

This isn't the first time Heigl has bit the hand that fed her stardom. Last year, she told Vanity Fair she thought Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up," her first big-time big-screen role, "was a little sexist." She also dropped out of salary renegotiations for "Grey's" last year, reportedly because she believed the studio didn't value her as much as the show's other stars.