Katherine Heigl Takes Down 'Lighthearted' Cemetery Photos, Issues Apology On Instagram

Actress Katherine Heigl visited the cemetery in Buffalo, New York, to pay respects to the graves of her loved ones over the weekend and while there, took some photos making weird poses in front of a few gravestones, which received a lot of backlash from her fans on Instagram.

The “27 dresses” star was primarily there to visit the grave of her brother who tragically died in an accident at the age of 16. After visiting the graves of her grandparents, she posted an array of photos with family members, all of which were well-received by social media users.

However, Heigl and her husband, Josh Kelley, who was accompanying her on the trip, did not stop there. They went on to click photos with other gravestones in the area, in which the actress appeared smiling widely. She then uploaded the pictures on Instagram with comedic captions.

“I also managed to get a little gossip with the girls,” Heigl wrote beside an image of her grinning between two angel statues. Kelley also got into the “fun,” leaning against a gravestone with his last name on it. Heigl joked that her husband had located his own grave.

Needless to say, social media users found the photos tasteless and inappropriate for the somber occasion. Taking full responsibility for her actions, Heigl took down the controversial photos from her Instagram account and posted a lengthy apology split into two videos.

“Hey everybody, so I’m in the car driving home from my family time in Buffalo and I noticed on my Instagram page that the post I posted earlier was getting a lot of reaction and I realized you guys are right and that was not appropriate and was disrespectful and I’ve taken it down,” Heigl said in one of the videos.

She explained that the experience of visiting the gravestones of her near and dear ones was hard and her behavior was aimed at bringing some lightheartedness into the situation.

“It’s kind of a heavy thing to go and visit my loved ones’ graves and I decided to try to find some moments of levity and humor and didn’t realize how inappropriate I was being. So I deeply apologize and I thank you guys for understanding that sometimes I don’t think things through clearly enough. And I am grateful for your input and for kind of giving me a head’s up when I’m maybe going too far. And thank you for forgiving me," she said.

“Next time I will be more thoughtful about other people’s feelings and not just my own. Anyway, I hope you’re all having a wonderful Sunday and again, thank you for kind of stepping up and saying something and bringing something to my awareness that needed to be brought," she added.

Kelley also uploaded a couple of videos taken at the cemetery on his own social media account. In one of them, he pretended to walk around with an imaginary friend and Heigl was heard laughing in the background.