The buzz was flying in recent days that Katherine Heigl was being written off of Grey’s Anatomy – more specifically, her character Izzie was being killed off after developing a brain tumor. Now comes confirmation, straight from ABC boss Steve McPherson that Katherine Heigl will not be killed off from Grey’s Anatomy.

The rumors started shortly after Katherine Heigl withdrew herself from Emmy consideration, saying, she wasn’t “given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination.” Many thought the slam would lead Katherine Heigl right off the show.

According to Steve McPherson, “She [Katherine Heigl] is absolutely staying with the show. She has an unbelievable storyline for her this year, which is really central to everything that is going to go on this season. Shonda is really excited about that; she’s the one who actually crafted that.”

Eric Dane added, “She’s a great girl, professional, she likes her job and I don’t think Shonda has any intentions of killing her off.”