Heigl declined to put her name forward for consideration at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008, claiming that she had been given insufficient material on the series to warrant a nomination. Following Heigl's statement, speculation arose that her character would suffer a brain tumor and be killed off "Grey's Anatomy", substantiated by the announcement Jeffrey Dean Morgan would return to the series as Denny, who died at the end of season 2. ABC's entertainment president Steve McPherson denied the rumor, stating: "There is an unbelievable storyline for her this year, which is really central to everything that's going to go on this season".