When Katherine Heigl opens her mouth, people listen. They don’t always like what they hear.

If the media love a celebrity lightning rod, then Heigl certainly delivers the goods. The Emmy-winning actress has taken heat for her blunt public comments and doesn’t seem to give two winks.
According to her detractors, the “Grey’s Anatomy” star’s outré behavior includes: demanding a higher salary in contract negotiations with ABC; slamming the megahit comedy “Knocked Up,” in which she starred with Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd, as “a little sexist” in painting women as “humorless and uptight” and men as “lovable, goofy”; and, recently, refusing to seek an Emmy nomination because “Grey’s” writers failed to deliver the goods for an awards-worthy performance.But in a world of bland, media-trained celebs, is it such a bad thing to speak your mind?

“There’s a long tradition of actors who have disdained the Hollywood establishment and then had some retribution for it within the Hollywood establishment,” said Neal Gabler, an author and cultural critic whose books include “Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality.”

Gabler named screen legend Paul Newman as an example. Newman, now 83, shunned the movie-industry hoopla and never showed up in 1986 to accept his best-actor Academy Award for “The Color of Money,” after having been nominated seven times before.

“He didn’t live the way a star was supposed to live. There was an expectation . . . placed on him, and he didn’t satisfy that expectation and Hollywood took retribution,” Gabler said, citing Newman’s awards snubs.

And yet, that tough-guy persona enhanced his public image as a man of integrity who lived on his own terms, Gabler said. Newman’s awards-hating colleagues included Marlon Brando and George C. Scott, who refused an Oscar for his grandiose performance in 1970′s “Patton.” Brando sent an American Indian surrogate to turn down his statuette when he won best actor in 1972 for “The Godfather.”

Heigl, on the other hand, simply declined to put her name in consideration for an Emmy bid because, as she said, “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination.”
Heigl’s announcement spread swiftly online, where it was variously heralded, ridiculed and hashed out by a vocal mob eager to weigh in.

“First of all, she did something crazy — and that is she told the truth,” said veteran publicist Howard Bragman. “At the very least, she told her truth. . . . And in this town, it’s not always a great idea, because . . . these are people you have to go to work with every day.”

ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson denied speculation earlier this month that Heigl wanted to leave the hit medical drama. Melissa Kates, Heigl’s representative, said the actress was unavailable for comment on this story.
“What we know about Katie Heigl is that she’s kind of an edgy, mouthy girl who’s a bit of a rabble rouser, and as long as she’s able to open movies and put butts in seats, she’s still going to have a career,” Bragman said.
But outspoken female stars such as Heigl could run into problems keeping an audience just by dint of gender.

“I think women have a much more difficult time, because when a woman makes demands as Barbra Streisand always did, I think they’re more likely to say, ‘What the hell does she want?’ You don’t see it in the same terms of integrity and honesty. It’s a harder sell,” Gabler said.

Indeed, actresses — especially those with conventionally attractive looks such as Heigl — are largely expected to play the game and shut up and smile, while demanding actors such as Sean Penn are handed creative control and respect, among eye rolls.

Jessica Grose, an editor at Jezebel.com, a Web site for women, said men and women face different criticism: While Tom Cruise’s sofa antics on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” would be endlessly mocked, Heigl’s comments might invite verbal lashings and insults about her looks.

“With the 24-hour news cycle, . . . anything you say that’s remotely off the cuff or interesting is going to get repeated and reported on,” Grose said. “I think any celebrity now who really speaks his or her mind is going to be raked over the coals for it.”

So far, Heigl’s career seems bright. She had success with “Knocked Up” and “27 Dresses,” and is set to co-star with Gerard Butler in “The Ugly Truth” next year.

Source: AZ Starnet