Ellen Pompeo slams speculation her new Grey's Anatomy deal led to her castmates exiting the series

Entertainment Weekly

In breaking the Grey's Anatomy news this morning, Deadline stressed that Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw were being dropped after nine years for strictly creative reasons. But the online publication's mention that the news came "on the heels" of Pompeo's blockbuster new deal didn't sit well with Pompeo, who took to Twitter to express her outrage. "Its unfortunate that @DEADLINE chooses to try to pit women against eachother on #InternationalWomensDay," Pompeo tweeted, adding: "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." Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff also responded on Twitter: “The suggestion in the Deadline article that our cast changes are in any way related to Ellen Pompeo’s salary renegotiation is wrong and hurtful and misguided. It smacks of an old, broken, patriarchal notion that women must be pitted against each other and that one woman’s success will be costly to others.”