Katherine Heigl issues apology after fans blast her for inappropriate photo shoot in a cemetery

Cast member Katherine Heigl (R) and Josh Kelley attend the premiere of "Unforgettable" in Los Angeles, California, U.S. April 18, 2017. (Reuters)

Katherine Heigl attempted to bring levity to a depressing situation, but her fans weren’t having it. The star has issued an apology after receiving backlash for an impromptu photo shoot done at a cemetery.

The star was visiting relatives in Buffalo, New York over the weekend. In some since-deleted images she posted to Instagram, the “Suits” actress posed alongside the gravestone of her late brother, Jason, who died in 1986 after a car accident, as well as her grandparents Reinhold and Margaretta Engelhardt, according to Us Weekly.

While the family photos were appropriately somber and respectful, the actress and her husband, Josh Kelley, also snapped various photos at monuments and other headstones in the area. In the images, they’re smiling and, as many fans noted, acting inappropriately around other people’s family stones.

“I also managed to get a little gossip with the girls,” Heigl wrote over an image of her smiling between two angel statues.

Kelley posed sitting against a gravestone with his last name on it, and Heigl joked  in her caption that he found his own grave.

Not long after posting the images, the star recorded two videos to her fans apologizing for her actions and taking full responsibility for the inappropriate behavior.

“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,” Heigl, 39, said in videos posted. “It was not appropriate and it was disrespectful and I’ve taken it down.”

“It’s kind of a heavy thing to go and visit my loved ones’ graves, and I decided to find some moments of levity and humor and didn’t realize how inappropriate I was being,” she continued. “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 og giving me a heads up when I’m maybe going too far. And thank you for forgiving me. Next time I will be more thoughtful about other people’s feelings and not just my own.”

As previously reported, Heigl will soon join the cast of USA Network’s hit “Suits” in Season 8 following the departure of main stars Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle, who recently married Prince Harry in England. She’ll play Samantha Wheeler, a new partner at the Pearson Specter Litt office.