The white flags haven’t exactly been raised, but it appears a cease-fire has been called in the nearly decadelong feud between Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl over 2007’s Knocked Up. You know, the one that more than likely derailed her career. Knocked Up was Heigl’s first major starring role in a film, but she went on to bash the Judd Apatow comedy in Vanity Fair, calling it “a little sexist.†Needless to say, her comments rubbed most involved the wrong way, namely her co-star Seth Rogen, who used every opportunity he had at the time to mock Heigl’s other work. In an appearance on “Howard Stern†earlier this year, Heigl attempted to walk back her criticism, clarifying that she liked the movie but didn’t like how “judgmental, uptight, and controlling†she made her character and regrets “shitting on†Apatow and Rogen. She also noted an encounter with Rogen at a restaurant several years ago that suggested their beef was nowhere near tender. On Monday, Rogen also went on “Stern†to finally declare a truce.
“As someone who’s an egomaniac,†Rogen says he felt deeply betrayed by Heigl’s comments because he enjoyed playing the “shitty version of Tom Hanks†to her Meg Ryan during the filming process. Hence his confusion when he later saw her at that restaurant — he believes she acted as though everything was peachy. “I thought she hated us,†he says. But after seeing how the backlash to her claims of sexism potentially damaged her career in the long run, Rogen now says he’s more sympathetic:
“I respect the fact that maybe she realizes it has hurt her career. And I don’t want that to have happened to her at all. Because I’ve said a thousand stupid things, and I really like her … The only people in this situation who should in any way take anything from it is me and Judd, because we’re the ones she’s talking about. And for other people to not work with her because she didn’t like her experience with us I think is crazy.â€
But before Heigl thinks this means she has next dibs on Rogen’s bong, he would first prefer a personal apology over the ones she’s been giving on various press tours. “When I apologize to people, generally I don’t take a public forum to do it,†Rogen says, in what probably still won’t be the last shot he (or anyone) ever takes at Heigl.