Ellen Pompeo opens up about Katherine Heigl’s 2009 comments about Grey’s Anatomy

In 2009, Katherine Heigl, perhaps at the height of her fame on ABC’s Gray’s Anatomy, made some then-controversial comments about the show’s grueling working conditions…which Ellen Pompeo has now confirmed.

Pompeo, 52, welcomed another Grey’s Anatomy star, Kate Walsh tell me Podcast where I first addressed the comments.

The actress, who has played Meredith Gray since the hit series debuted on ABC in 2005, said Heigl was “100% honest.”

CONFIRMED: In 2009, Katherine Heigl, at the height of her fame on ABC’s Gray’s Anatomy, made some then-controversial comments about the show’s grueling working conditions…which have now been confirmed by Ellen Pompeo

Comments: Pompeo, 52, has welcomed another Grey’s Anatomy star, Kate Walsh, to the Tell Me podcast, where she first addressed the comments

Heigl was promoting her new movie The Ugly Truth on the July 2009 episode of Late Night with David Letterman, where she added that she had just returned to Grey’s and made some controversial comments.

“Our first day back was on a Wednesday and it was…I’m going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them…on 17 hours, which I think is cruel and mean,” Heigl said.

The audience did not respond to her statement, adding quickly, “Actually really great to be back because all my friends are there and at this point they are like family.”

Controversial: Heigl was promoting her new movie The Ugly Truth on the July 2009 episode of Late Night with David Letterman, adding that she had just returned to Grey’s and made some controversial comments

During a recent podcast episode, Pompeo reflected Walsh in her comments, where Pompeo said, “I remember Heigl saying something on a talk show about the crazy hours we’ve been working on and she was 100% right.”

Heigl has been labeled “difficult” to work with and is said to have had a somewhat controversial relationship with Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes.

Pompeo admitted that it was a different time when Hegel made those comments, and they could have been received much differently now.

100% correct: During the podcast’s latest episode, Pompeo Walsh reflected in her comments, with Pompeo stating, “I remember Heigl saying something on a talk show about the crazy hours we’ve been working on and she was 100% right.”

Had she said that today, she would have been a complete hero. Pompeo said it was way ahead of her time, she made a statement about our crazy watches, and of course let’s criticize a woman and call her ungrateful.

She went on to say that Catherine’s openness about opening hours was “100% candid” and she was “absolutely right” about everything.

She was too reckless to say it. And she was telling the truth. Pompeo said in the podcast that she wasn’t lying.

Hero: If she had said that today, she would have been a complete hero. Pompeo said she’s ahead of her time, she made a statement about our crazy hours, and of course, let’s criticize a woman and call her ungrateful.

True: She continued, saying that Catherine’s openness about opening hours was “100% candid” and was “absolutely right” about everything.

Heigl played Dr. Izzie Stevens in the first six seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, which made her a household name and propelled her film career.

She will later return to television with Status of Affairs, Doubt, and Suits, while most recently starring in Firefly Lane.

She plays Victoria Woodhull in the upcoming series Woodhull, where she played the first woman to run for president of the United States in 1872.

Izzie: Heigl played Dr. Izzie Stevens in the first six seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, which made her a household name and propelled her film career.

Coming Soon: Played as Victoria Woodhull in the upcoming series Woodhull, playing the first woman to run for President of the United States in 1872