2 leave ‘Grey’s’ ...Is Pompeo to blame?
Proving that she can carry the show without a McDreamy, Ellen Pompeo successfully negotiated a $20 million contract as the lead star of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
But with Deadline reporting that Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw are leaving the hit show, there were murmurs that it was because of Pompeo’s too-large paycheck.
“It’s unfortunate that Deadline chooses to try to pit women against each other on #InternationalWomensDay #shameonyounotme,” Pompeo tweeted. “I’m a big girl. Deadline can take shots at me if they want, but to the fans, please don’t fall into that trap. This is above my pay grade.”
“Sarah and Jessica’s storylines had just run their course, and the decision was made to not renew their contracts. Both had expressed concern about on-screen time,” an insider told Us Weekly magazine, referring to their roles: Sarah as April Kepner and Capshaw as Arizona Robbins.
“For Sarah, it was about how her character really wasn’t evolving,” the source also said.
The source also talked about Pompeo’s salary.
“Ellen Pompeo was given a pay raise to recognize her incredible contributions to the success of the show,” the source said. “There was this incredible mad dash to try and find Ellen a male costar after Patrick Dempsey left. What the network quickly learned was that Ellen didn’t need another McDreamy.”
Producer Krista Vernoff defended Pompeo in a tweet, saying, “It felt right creatively to wrap up their stories.”