Dry your eyes, anti-Izzy nation. Katherine Heigl, the Emmy-winning actress on Grey's Anatomy who tormented creator Shonda Rhimes, writers and cast members with her diva-like behavior, filming schedules and late night attacks, has left Seattle Grace. The rumor started two weeks ago when industry insiders reported that Rhimes had chucked Heigl from her contract, and this morning, Heigl herself confirms the news via an Entertainment Weekly cover, where the hell-raising actress is posed as a cable-knit wearing angel.
Viewers will have to wait until Friday for the entire Entertainment Weekly article but here is a teaser:
"I am done," declares Heigl. "We just finalized our agreement. Everyone had been working really hard to find an amicable and gracious way of letting go and moving on. It's sad but it's what I wanted."
The 31-year-old actress reveals that it was family issues, not her burgeoning film career, that prompted her to approach series creator Shonda Rhimes and ask to be let out of her contract 18 months early. "I started a family and it changed everything for me," says Heigl, who took a three-month family leave from Grey's this season to bond with her newly-adopted daughter, Naleigh. "It changed my desire to work full-time."
Although she was scheduled to appear in this season's final five episodes, that is no longer happening. As a result, the Jan. 21 episode was her last as Izzie. "I know I'm disappointing the fans," she says. "I just had to make a choice. I hope I made the right one."
The choice, being to get out of Seattle Grace ASAP -- meaning that Heigl's last episode already aired and that Izzy will not be part of the season finale festivities. Just because Lady Heigl is fleeing ABC though, does not mean that you will never see her vibrating panty-ness again. Heigl's romcom abortion, Killers, with Ashton Kutcher, hits multiplexes this summer and she has five (five!) films in development on IMDB.