Grey�s Anatomy�s star Katherine Heigl has released a statement admonishing her bosses for going public about  their pay dispute.

"I am embarrassed that this has become a public matter and disappointed that Touchstone felt it necessary to divulge private employment information," Heigl, 28, said Thursday (March 1).

"I had hoped I would be able to deal with this issue confidentially with my bosses. I dropped out of the renegotiation simply because I wanted to treat myself with the respect I was not getting from them."

Katherine also reassured fans of her wishes to continue playing the character: "No matter how unhappy I am about their decision to respond to this publicly, I continue to be passionate about and committed to this character."

The actress dropped out of contract talks on Tuesday. The story was quickly made public and in response, ABC Television released a statement on Wednesday stating: We have a long-term contract to ensure she'll be with the show for several years to come."

The statement also said that producers had offered Heigl a much higher pay packet, and said they were �surprised� that this was reported negatively in the press.