EXCLUSIVE: Inside Katherine Heigl's Furious Battle With Dog Rescue Firm – With Actress 'Heading for Trial' In Bitter Battle
Katherine Heigl is heading for trial in a bitter legal battle with a dog rescue firm.
March 28 2025, Published 8:30 a.m. ET
Animal-mad Katherine Heigl's career has been in the doghouse for years, and now she's locked in a legal battle with a California canine rescue organization that is set for the courthouse, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Grey's Anatomy actress, who hamstrung her once-blossoming career by dissing the TV hit and her movie Knocked Up, filed a defamation lawsuit against The Pitty Committee (TPC) and its owner, Alyssa Deetman, for allegedly spreading false information about the Jason Heigl Foundation (JHF).
According to court documents, in January 2023, Heigl's charity, which she founded with her mom, Nancy, and named after her late brother – entered into an agreement to provide monthly funding to TPC for "rescuing a minimum prescribed number of dogs of JHF's choosing."
Heigl's lawsuit has been slammed.
Heigl, 46, claims TPC didn't fulfill its obligations and "saw their contributions as a proverbial 'blank check,' and, after a year, cut off the funding to the organization.
"In response, Deetman engaged in an online smear campaign against JHF and the Heigls," the suit alleged. "Deetman made false, defamatory, and derogatory accusations that JHF and the Heigls have mistreated rescue dogs, failed to provide promised funding, and stole from TPC, all in an effort to ruin JHF and Heigl's reputation and/or coerce some sort of monetary payout."
In the legal papers, Heigl added TPC asked for additional funds and ghosted her as any requests for information "went unanswered and unexplained."
Heigl's foundation is now facing harsh accusations.
The lawsuit also cites a TPC TikTok post that blasts JHF as a "scam," and paints Heigl as a "celebrity phony who uses animal advocacy as a shield" and keeps dogs in "tiny kennels where they are forgotten about."
The complaint seeks a trial before a jury to rule on the matter. Meanwhile, TPC said it is suing JHF "for fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress."
TPC claimed it saved "very difficult dogs that required intense rehabilitation," but "never received anything close to full reimbursement."
Heigl has been an animal rights activist for years.
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Heigl, who has long advocated for animal rights and developed a brand of high-quality dog food called Badlands Ranch, seems to have the public behind her in this dogfight.
"If anybody knows about Katherine Heigl, they know she devotes her life to animal care," one fan said online.
Our source said: "This fight is set to go all the way to the court room."
