Seth Rogen is finally putting words to what a lot of people have been wondering for years: what really happened between him and Katherine Heigl after Knocked Up?
In an appearance on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show, Rogen didn’t hold back when talking about the awkward tension that’s lingered since Heigl famously called the 2007 hit comedy “a little sexist.” And if you were thinking that might’ve stung a bit, yep, it definitely did.
“I was insulted,” Rogen admitted, plain and simple, per The Hollywood Reporter. “As we were making the movie, I was like, ‘I would make a dozen movies with her.’” He even added that Heigl improvised half her lines. “People liked it. We were funny together. I was having a really good time.”
So when he read that Heigl was less than thrilled with the finished product (and the whole experience, apparently) it hit differently. “When that happens, your trust feels somewhat betrayed,” he said.
Knocked Up was a massive success; made on a $25 million budget, it raked in nearly $220 million at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo. It helped cement Rogen as a comedy star and had a cast full of comedic heavy-hitters: Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, and Jay Baruchel.
Heigl, coming from a more traditional rom-com background (27 Dresses, The Ugly Truth), stood out in a good way, or so it seemed at the time.
But in a 2008 Vanity Fair interview, Heigl called out the film for portraying women as “shrews” and “killjoys,” while painting the guys as lovable goofballs. “Why is this how you’re portraying women?” she asked, even criticizing her own performance in the process.
Rogen’s reaction now? A mix of disbelief and dry humor: “I’m insulted that just the implication that a woman would f**k me is sexist,” he joked to Stern.
Judd Apatow, the film’s writer and director, also weighed in, saying Heigl was “fantastic” and “hysterical” on set. “She could not have been cooler,” Rogen agreed. Which is partly why the post-release fallout caught them both off guard.
“I don’t know what to make of that,” Apatow said, recalling the moment he read Heigl’s interview. And honestly, it seems like they still kind of don’t.
Despite the years gone by, there’s clearly still some confusion (and maybe a little hurt?) over what went wrong. Rogen and Heigl haven’t worked together since, and although time has softened some edges, that Vanity Fair quote clearly left its mark.
In the end, it’s a classic Hollywood mismatch: two actors with totally different takes on the same experience. One saw a career-making comedy. The other saw something that didn’t sit right, and wasn’t afraid to say it.