Actor Katherine Heigl is pushing back after critics questioned her appearance at a dog-rescue fundraiser held at Mar-a-Lago.
The former Grey's Anatomy star said the event, which was co-chaired by Lara Trump, was about supporting animal welfare, not politics, arguing that “animals don’t vote” and need advocates regardless of where fundraising happens.
Critics of President Donald Trump are pushing back on her pushback.
Katherine Heigl defends Mar-a-Lago appearance as animal advocacy
After Trump critics released the hounds on Heigl for attending a pretty Trump-related charity gala, the actor provided a statement to multiple celebrity news outlets.
"Animals don’t vote," she said. "The only room they don’t like is the euthanasia room at a shelter. They are completely at the mercy of us, and they have no voice of their own."
"This event was about animal advocacy—something that has always been deeply personal to me," she added.
Heigl has put in a lot of time and money to help rescue and rehabilitate dogs. Part of the Jason Heigl Foundation, named after her late brother, takes in canines with behavioral issues and attempts to train and re-home them.
In 2010, the ASPCA granted Heigl the Presidential Service Award for her work with animals. The following year, she launched the "I Hate Balls" campaign to promote spaying and neutering.
The actor hasn't been seen much in recent years. In fact, this is her first major public appearance in over two years—since the Grey's Anatomy cast reunion at the 2024 Emmys.
According to Variety, the Wine, Women & Shoes event at Mar-a-Lago netted the Big Dog Ranch Rescue around $5.5 million. The Florida rescue claims to be the "LARGEST, cage-free, no-kill rescue in the U.S."
There are many dog rescue operations all over the U.S., most of which don't hold events at Mar-a-Lago. Currently, 52 percent of these shelters are no-kill.
"Pet owners do vote"
While "animals don't vote" is concise and quippy, it didn't hold up well to an ounce of thought from Trump critics.
It doesn't much matter whether animals vote or not when the owner of the golf club just followed up his Minneapolis ICE terror campaign with a new war in the Middle East. The over 1,600 dead can't adopt any dogs, after all.
Also, some people care about humans.
"But Pet Owners do vote," @mistergeezy pointed out on X.
"As soon as I heard this I knew she was going to use the animals as an excuse," said @LeaundraRoss.
"I love dog and cats but to put them over humans is some privileged a** sh*t."
Some felt vindicated in their long-standing disdain for Heigl.
"I’ll give you this: All of you people who had weirdly intense, knee-jerk hatreds of Katherine Heigl 20 years ago were right," wrote @JonathanCohn.
"There are plenty of other ways to help rescue animals. Attend a Mar-a-Lago event is a choice," wrote @leebee4life. "Honestly, I’m not that surprised given other things she’s done in the past."
"You have to admit, it will be a little funny if we circle back around to 'we were wrong about being wrong about Katherine Heigl,'" joked @rockmarooned.
Others expressed a funny feeling that if dogs could vote, they wouldn't vote for a Trump administration.
"I think Kristi Noem proved the White House doesn’t care about animals," said @TheBrandyHoward.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.
