Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage.comGrey’s Anatomy Shonda Rhimes won't confirm or deny whether Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight are leaving the hit ABC series.
"I'm not saying what's going to happen on the show, but that is a rumor," Rhimes told reporters at last night’s NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles when asked if the two real-life best friends were hanging up their scrubs and saying goodbye to Seattle Grace Hospital.
Rhimes did tell another outlet that James Pickens' so-called confirmation of Heigl and Knight's departure wasn't true, but she still stopped short of denying the question on everyone's minds: Will the two costars actually be leaving?
As for the show's chatty Cathy himself, Pickens insists his comments were twisted by a celebrity tabloid to make it sound as though he were confirming their departures.
"When the question was posed to me, I was answering in terms of celebrating and congratulating T.R. and Katherine on whatever they want to do," Pickens said. "But you know I have no special info. I mean, you probably know more than I do about it."
Chandra Wilson also chimed in, saying no one is going anywhere because, if nothing else, they’ve got contractual obligations.
"Eventually we're all not going to be on Grey's Anatomy, but there's no date, there's no time," Wilson said. “We've got two more seasons on our contracts."
"It's pretty much status quo on our show," Pickens added. "And if nothing else, this gives us press, so it's always good."
What do Heigl and Knight have to say about all this? Nothing—at least not publicly. Their reps have repeatedly declined to comment.
—Additional reporting by Dahvi Shira