Fans are shook after Ellen Pompeo revealed a heated exchange that took place with Denzel Washington while filming a 2016 episode of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
During a recent episode of her “Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo” podcast with her former co-star Patrick Dempsey as her guest, Pompeo recalled the Oscar Award-winning actor directing “The Sound of Silence” episode of season 12 of the ABC medical drama. Pompeo, who portrays Meredith Gray, claims she and Washington “went at it” after improvising a line of dialogue during an emotional scene.
“I was like, ‘Look at me when you apologize. Look at me,’ ” Pompeo recalled yelling at another actor. “That wasn’t in the dialogue. And Denzel went ham on my ass. He was like, ‘I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do.’ “
She continued, “I was like, ‘Listen, m———-r, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling? Like, you barely know where the bathroom is.”
Pompeo described Washington as “charismatic” and a “movie star” who “doesn’t know s–t about directing TV.” She claimed “Grey’s Anatomy” producer Debbie Allen enlisted Washington as director to encourage her not to leave the show following Dempsey’s exit in 2015. Pompeo also alleged Denzel’s wife, Pauletta Washington, encouraged him to participate in the show.
Cleaning up her remarks, Pompeo added that she has the “utmost respect for him as an actor and director.”
“We didn’t get through it without a fight, but that’s actors for you,” she concluded. “Passionate and fiery and that’s where you get the magic, and that’s where you get the good stuff. So, it was an amazing experience, it really was.”
As the story went viral, a handful of critics and fans felt Pompeo “disrespected” Washington, but more specifically his career-astounding accolades. Many used memes of Yung Miami from City Girls and talk show host Wendy Williams to address Pompeo for seemingly addressing Denzel Washington.
“Ellen Pompeo really just told us she disrepected Denzel Washington like we’re supposed to laugh and applaud her,” wrote one person on Twitter.
Using a meme of Wendy Williams, a second person commented, “I don’t know if Ellen Pompeo revealing that she yelled at Oscar-winning Denzel Washington on the set of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is the flex she thought it would be. She seems like a Karen, and if I hear her say one more time she’s married to a Black man and has Black kids…”
Other people referenced Pompeo’s performance in NBC’s “Law & Order” in the late ’90s, which they believe was not nearly “as good as” 66-year-old Denzel. On Twitter user wrote, “Watching Ellen Pompeo on old reruns of ‘Law and Order’ will show you she is not near as good as she thinks she is. Just a little reminder that she has never and will never hold a candle to the legend that is Denzel Washington.”
But, of course, Black Twitter users chimed in to call out Pompeo for her failed attempt tp cancel Denzel by using a meme from his lead role in the 2001 film, “Training Day.” “Ellen Pompeo really tried to cancel Denzel Washington today, because he was doing his job as a director, and all of Black Twitter told her NOT TODAY, boo,” wrote a fourth person. “You love to see it.”
Another alleges Pompeo’s statement proves why they never liked the show, including one Twitter user who said, “I knew there was a reason I never liked Grey’s Anatomy.” Adding a fan-made GIF of Washington’s role in the Spike Lee movie “Malcolm X,” the person added, “Ellen expected us to hop on Beyonce’s internet and laugh about her disrespecting Denzel Washington.
Washington hasn’t responded to the comments.
