5 Reasons Katherine Heigl Should Leave Grey's Anatomy

The doctor is out. Almost.
After six years of doomed love affairs, a hallucinatory boyfriend and a battle with cancer, Izzie Stevens is reportedly hanging up her stethoscope for good. According to Michael Ausiello, blonde beauty Katherine Heigl has succeeded in negotiating a release from her 'Grey's Anatomy' contract with showrunner Shonda Rhimes; all that remains is for ABC Studios and Heigl's reps to work out an exit agreement, and Heigl will have her freedom.
The relationship between Heigl and the 'Grey's' camp has long been considered gossip column fodder; the trouble seemed to start in 2007, following Isaiah Washington's homophobic slur against Heigl's BFF TR Knight on the 'Anatomy' set. Heigl was vocal in her disapproval of her co-star's poor choice of words after Washington repeated the insult at the Golden Globes. Then, in 2008, Heigl provoked controversy of her own with her decision not to enter the Emmy race because she felt that she had not been given strong enough material to warrant a nomination -- the 'Grey's' writers were less than thrilled.

Until someone makes an official announcement one way or the other, the circumstances surrounding the supposed split will remain fuzzy, but in the meantime, we've compiled a list of five reasons why controversy-courting Katherine should leave 'Grey's Anatomy.'
1. She's a Baby Mama nowIn September, Heigl and hubby Josh Kelley brought home adorable baby Naleigh from Korea, where Meg, Heigl's adopted sister, was born. Naleigh is a special needs child who was already 10 months old by the time she reached the couple, so it makes sense that Heigl would take some time away from those famously long workdays to bond with her little bundle of joy.
2. Her BFF went bye-byeNot only was Heigl close with Kate Walsh, who flew the 'Anatomy' coop a couple of seasons ago to start up her own 'Private Practice,' but last season saw the exit of everyone's favorite Seattle Grace underdog, George O'Malley, and with him left TR Knight, Heigl's on and off-screen best friend. True, the actress still seems to be friendly with co-star Justin Chambers, but we've got to imagine that the 'Grey's' set got a little lonelier for Heigl after her partner in crime's departure.
3. The writers really weren't giving her good materialAfter Heigl's Emmy win in '07, it seems like the 'Grey's' writers were content to rest on their laurels as far as Izzie Stevens' storylines went. She bounced around from almost getting fired after Denny's death to almost quitting, to breaking up her best friend's marriage, to having hallucinations of her dead boyfriend, to having sex with hallucinations of her dead boyfriend, to getting cancer, to getting shotgun married to the resident douche, to surviving cancer but getting fired anyway, to disappearing for weeks on a voyage of self-discovery from which she will apparently never return. After Denny's exit, it seemed as though the writers didn't know what to do with Heigl's character, and though part of the blame can be attributed to Heigl's hectic movie schedule, it's fair to say that audiences (and obviously Heigl herself) have noticed the lackluster plotlines Izzie has been given in recent seasons.
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