One day after Katherine Heigl announced she would drop out of this year's Emmy race, because Grey's Anatomy did not give her material to warrant a nomination, a key show insider is fighting back against the comment,

Contacting Entertainment Weekly to address the actress' public complaint about the show, the Grey's Anatomy writer/producer was far from pleased:

"The show bent over backwards to accommodate her film schedule, and then she criticizes the show for lack of material? It's an ungrateful slap in the face to the very writers responsible for her Emmy win in the first place."

She made the comments June 12 after the star's name did not appear on the list of Emmy contenders distributed by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The omission was especially bizarre, considering that Katherine Heigl actually won last year's award for outstanding supporting actress in a drama.

Critics jeered Heigl's performance early in the season, complaining about the romance between her character, Izzie, and George (T.R. Knight).

But the actress shined in Grey's Anatomy's Season Four finale when her character redeemed herself, as well as her career at Seattle Grace.

This isn't the first time Katherine Heigl has publicly criticized the show that helped to make her a household name, as we know.

Last year, she dropped out of salary renegotiations, reportedly because she felt the studio doesn't value her as much as it does her cohorts.

ABC fired back, insisting the Grey's Anatomy star had in fact been offered a substantial raise. Heigl has since received a salary bump.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.