“Grey’s Anatomy” star Katherine Heigl declined to be included on the list of potential Emmy nominees, citing bad material from the writers on the show. It was her second public statement against the script writers. She gave a snotty interview earlier this year calling her character Izzie’s affair a “ratings ploy” and saying that she wanted more “cooperation between the business end and the creative end” of the series. Now people who are close to the situation are speaking off the record to the New York Times. They say that writers and producers on the show are super pissed (I’m paraphrasing here) that she has the gall to so publicly diss them. It’s thought that Heigl wants out of her multi-million dollar contract, which extends until the 2009/2010 season, so that she can continue with her burgeoning movie career.

The latest disagreement flared on Wednesday, when a Los Angeles Times Web site devoted to Emmy coverage noted that Ms. Heigl, who last year won the award for best supporting actress in a drama series, was missing from the nomination ballot for the same award this year.

Asked why, Ms. Heigl said that she had decided not to have herself submitted for a nomination. “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention,” she said in a statement. “In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials.”

A spokeswoman for Ms. Heigl said Friday that the actress would not comment further. Spokeswomen for ABC Studios, which produces “Grey’s Anatomy,” and for the ABC broadcast network also declined to comment. And a spokesman for Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the series, said she would not comment either.

Two people involved in the production of the show said that the program’s writers and producers were angered by what they considered a slap by Ms. Heigl at the people in the writers’ room. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity, which was granted because they have been involved in discussions with the program’s top executives about the situation but were not authorized to speak on behalf of the series. The series is to begin production on its fifth season on June 25.

[From The NY Times via We Smirch]

The Times notes that “Grey’s” commercials are the second most expensive on television, and that a 30 second spot on the ABC show runs for $400,000, which is only behind Fox’s American Idol in ad costs. If Heigl leaves it could significantly affect revenue, and her statements have the potential to scare away advertisers even if she sticks around.

What is this woman going to do when she finds she’s not box office gold and can’t get another television job? She’s screwing over the show that made her a star, and she also dismissed the movie through which she had her big break, calling Knocked Up “sexist” and her character a “shrew.”

She has two movies coming up, including a romantic comedy with Gerard Butler, and a feature based on the memoir of a woman who escaped from the FLDS polygamist cult. She’s co-producing the polygamist movie, and as Helen pointed out in her earlier article about Heigl’s Emmy diss, it’s not exactly surefire hit material.

Katherine Heigl is shown out at lunch with her husband, Josh Kelley, on 6/6/08 in Los Feliz, California, thanks to Splash News.