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Black Twitter Checks Grey’s Anatomy Star Ellen Pompeo For Playing Herself When She ‘Disrespected’ Denzel Washington

ellen pompeo and denzel washington

Source: Amy Sussman/Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty / Getty

Actress Ellen Pompeo is being called out on social media after the star claimed she had a heated exchange with Denzel Washington on the set of Grey’s Anatomy during a recent episode of her podcast, Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo.

In the episode, Pompeo — who plays Meredith Gray in ABC’s medical drama — said that while filming an episode from Season 12 called The Sound of Silence — which Washington directed — the two stars “went at it” after she told another actor to improvise some dialogue amid an emotional scene.

“And Denzel went ham on my ass,” Pompeo told former co-star Patrick Dempsey on her podcast regarding that day of filming. “He was like, ‘I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do.’”

“And I was like, ‘Listen, motherfucker, this is my show,’” the actress recalled saying back to Washington. “This is my set. Who are you telling?’ Like, ‘You barely know where the bathroom is.’”

Even though the actress tried to lessen the harshness of her comments by noting that she has “the utmost respect for [Washington] as an actor, as a director, as everything,” Pompeo added that Washingon was an actor who “doesn’t know shit about directing TV.” 

Furthermore, the actress told Dempsey that Washington got the directing gig because Debbie Allen — an executive producer and director on Grey’s Anatomy — thought it would be an incentive for Pompeo to stay on the show. 

As if that wasn’t loaded enough, Pompeo also shared that when Washington’s wife, Paulette, visited the set as a fan of the series, the actress let her know she wasn’t happy with Washington’s directing.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, he yelled at me today,” Pompeo recounted telling Paulette about the Oscar-winning Training Day actor. “Yeah, he let me have it today, and I’m not okay with him, and I’m not looking at him, and I’m not talking to him.’”

“So we didn’t get through it without a fight, but you know, that’s actors for you — passionate and fiery — and that’s where you get the magic,” Pompeo noted, before adding at the end — “and that’s where you get the good stuff. So it was an amazing experience, it really was.”

Twitter wasn’t here for the shade thrown at Washington in Pompeo’s story. Moreover, people seem to be confused as to why the actress thought the story would be good to share on her podcast when it just comes across like she was unjustly and unnecessarily trying to “son” Washington when he was just trying to do his job. 

See Twitter’s commentary down below.

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