Ellen Pompeo, one of the world’s highest-paid actors, once faced major backlash for narrating a fight with Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington. In 2021, the 53 -year-old actor took to her podcast, Tell Me With Ellen Pompeo, to look back on the heated exchange she had with Denzel when he guest-directed an episode of Grey’s Anatomy in 2016.
She welcomed guest Patrick Dempsey, who was accused of terrorizing behavior on the set of Grey’s Anatomy. But Pompeo and Dempsey didn’t talk about their own rocky past; instead, she brought up a heated moment she exchanged with Denzel Washington. She recalled the incident and talked about how the two had a clash of creative visions.
Ellen Pompeo Said, Denzel Washington Doesn’t Know How TV Works
Ellen Pompeo shared a nasty feud she had with Washington when he got to direct one of the episodes of season 12 of the American medical drama television series Grey’s Anatomy. She started:
“I was like, ‘Look at me when you apologize. Look at me. And that wasn’t in the dialogue. And Denzel went ham on my a**.”
To her rude statement, Washington replied (as Pompeo shared on her podcast):
‘I’m the director. Don’t you tell him what to do.’” “I was like, ‘Listen, motherf**ker, this is my show, This is my set. Who are you telling?’’”
The actress further revealed that Washington joined the show as a guest director because his wife was a huge fan of Grey’s Anatomy. She then went and told Washington’s wife about the whole thing and how she wasn’t okay with what happened. The Grey’s Anatomy actress explained that despite being a big movie star, Washington didn’t understand TV works.
Ellen Pompeo Had to Face Backlash for Telling a Story About Yelling at Denzel Washington
Well, it’s fair to say that Pompeo’s comments were not well-received by people around the internet. The audio clip of her story quickly made the rounds on Twitter after the podcast’s release. The viral exchange resulted in fans calling the actress “rude” in the comments and making fun of her “entitled” tone, calling her a “jerk.”
Did Ellen Pompeo think telling the story about yelling at Denzel Washington was endearing or putting her in a good light? It makes her comes across as a privileged and entitled jerk. Especially running to tell his wife.
— Nicole (@nikkinicole1908) September 30, 2021
denzel washington: can you get me some water
— dani (@camillepreakres) September 30, 2021
ellen pompeo: i’m ellen pompeo
denzel washington: ok ellen pompeo can you get me some water
Denzel Washington: Ellen can you move slightly to the left..
— raveen marie 🫶🏾 (@xoraveen) September 30, 2021
Ellen Pompeo : DO YOU KNOW WHO TF I AM?! This is MY SET! THIS IS MY SHOW pic.twitter.com/zduokIDJ6A
so she disrespected Denzel Washington and then tried to play victim to his wife and she thinks this is a good story. 🤦🏽♀️ i keep trying to root for her cause i’ve enjoyed Greys so much but the stories she tells on herself keep getting worse and worse. https://t.co/SnKwIjxmok
— ❤️🔥Skyla's Backup❤️🔥 (@ItsSkylizzels) September 30, 2021
My tone for “this is a good Denzel story” is a lot different to hers https://t.co/1mxZSSidtU
— Sarcastic (@sarcastic_sabs) October 1, 2021
Despite the argument, both Pompeo and Washington managed to film the rest of the episode without issues. The actress added that she has the “utmost respect” for Denzel Washington “as an actor and a director. She also called the whole fight an “amazing experience.”
Pompeo concluded the Tell Me With Ellen Pompeo episode by explaining that the two shared a positive relationship regardless of the heated exchange on the set.
Source: BuzzFeed
