Everybody calm down! That’s the message Ellen Pompeo sent out on Twitter on Sunday, March 11, as she responded to fans’ anger over the departures of her Grey’s Anatomy castmates Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew.
Fans of the medical drama have been voicing their displeasure over the axing of the actresses, and some have been directing their anger towards Pompeo after Deadline reported on Thursday, March 8, that the pair’s exit from the show comes “on the heels” of Pompeo’s recent salary negotiation, which will reportedly net her a “significant” increase to $20 million a year.
“We R grateful all of you are so passionate but if you knew these two women the way I know them they would not approve of all this nastiness,” Pompeo, who plays Meredith Grey, tweeted, adding, “They both are super shiny happy people. I know you’re angry but you’re representation couldn’t be further from who these women actually are.”
She then responded to a fan who asked, “Aren’t we allowed to be angry at this injustice, though? Going to be two impossible holes to fill.”
“You are,” Pompeo replied, “but spreading acceptance and love is our message with Greys and what all of the actors try to do with our performances on this show.”
We R grateful all of you are so passionate but if you knew these two women the way I know them they would not approve of all this nastiness
— Ellen Pompeo (@EllenPompeo) March 11, 2018
They both are super shiny happy people. I know you’re angry but you’re representation couldn’t be further from who these women actually are
— Ellen Pompeo (@EllenPompeo) March 11, 2018
You are but spreading acceptance and love is our message with Greys and what all of the actors try to do with our performances on this show https://t.co/c8oIUU6Hwk
— Ellen Pompeo (@EllenPompeo) March 11, 2018
As previously reported, Drew, who has been on the show for nine seasons as Dr. April Kepner, and Capshaw, who has portrayed Dr. Arizona Robbins for 10 seasons, are leaving the series after season 14.
Pompeo and the show’s co-showrunner Krista Vernoff, slammed Deadline on Thursday for sparking online speculation that their departures were over a salary dispute.
“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,” Vernoff tweeted. “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. Ellen Pompeo has not only advocated passionately for her fellow cast members, she has taken the time to educate women worldwide as to how to advocate for themselves and that must not now be twisted.”
Vernoff added that the decision to write out the characters was “a creative one.”
“The only thing as constant on Grey’s Anatomy as Ellen Pompeo is our penchant for reinvention,” she continued. “It is a part of our success and what keeps the show exciting. We love these actresses and we love these characters and it felt true and right creatively to wrap up their stories. And that is the whole story.”
