Katherine Heigl is “woke” in 2021.
In an exclusive interview with Parents , the Firefly Lane actress revealed that she’s been blinded to racism in the world.
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This hits home for the star, who has two adopted children of color. But with this newfound lens on the world, she’s commited to changing how she’s raising her adopted children.
This is Katherine Heigl.
If you don’t recognize her from her rom-com days ( 27 Dresses , The Ugly Truth , even Knocked Up ), then you probably recognize her from her previous role as Izzie Stevens on the ever-popular, Grey’s Anatomy .
She’s also been married to musician Josh Kelley since 2007.
Together, they have three children: Marie Hope, 8½, Naleigh Mi-Eun, 12, and Joshua, 4.
The five of them make up a beautiful and very sweet family that fans love to follow.
Two of those three children — Marie Hope and Naleigh Mi-Eun — were adopted by the pair in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
Naleigh is from South Korea, while Adalaide, who is Black, is from Louisiana.
In an interview with *People*, Heigl shared that it wasn’t unusual for the couple to adopt non-white children since she grew up with an adopted sister from South Korea.
She also admitted that this also gave her a “naïve” view.
“That has been a very complicated and oftentimes stimming conversation for [husband Josh Kelley] and me,” she shared.
“For all the obvious reasons, Josh and I felt like we had lived in a very light bubble our whole life.”
“You don’t even know that you are because it’s just the world around you.”
She continued on, saying that she assumed that the majority of the world “didn’t see race and color.”
When the tragic death of George Floyd pushed forward the Black Lives Matter movement, the *Firefly Lane* actress found herself unsure how to talk to her daughters about it.
While she waited and prayed, continuing to live in her “bubble” on her ranch, Katherine did publically speak on the racism in the world on Instagram.
In her two posts, she shared that her “whiteness” prevented her from “internalizing the reality” of racism.
Now, months later, the actress is speaking out about this important issue again.
This time, in an interview with Parents , where she admitted that she was blind to racism.
She was very candid about it.
“Because I was raised with adoption, looking beyond skin color was the norm for me, and I just believed that love is love—it doesn’t matter what we look like,” she began.
She continued:
“But then when I asked my sister, Meg, if she had been treated one way when she was out in public with our parents and a different way when she was out by herself without them, she said, “Oh yeah, all the time!””
The *Grey’s Anatomy* star shared that this made her realize she had been so naïve.
It also led to a whirlwind of emotions:
“At first, I got very angry. But I had to calm down and realize, okay, this isn’t about how it makes me feel,” she said.
“It’s about how I need to protect my daughters and prepare them for the world, because I can’t change society in one fell swoop,” she continued.
Part of this means answering any questions her daughters have about their heritage.
“They do have more questions as they get older,” she told *Parents*.
“We have said to them, ‘This is your story. We don’t have any information about your biological fathers, but we do have a bit about your biological mothers,” she continued.
Both parents made sure that they knew if they did have any questions, that they were free to ask whatever they wanted.
“If you guys want to talk more about them, you can have as much or as little information as you want. Tell us what you’re comfortable with knowing.'”
The star also shared that another child is out of the question thanks to the pandemic.
“I wasn’t sure if we would go the foster care route or adoption or maybe another pregnancy. But now I have completely changed my mind.”
“I am very content with my three!” she shared.
For more of Katherine’s interview with Parents , check it out here.
Let us know what you think about her interview down below in the comment section! We would love to hear from you.
H/T: Parents
