Shonda Rhimes recently told WSJ Magazine that her 19-year-old daughter Harper has "never" watched "Grey's Anatomy," the hit ABC medical drama Rhimes created. According to Rhimes, Harper actually finds it "horrifying" that her mother created a show her friends watch over and over again.
"Grey's Anatomy" was the first show Rhimes created for ABC and the catalyst that led to her eventually taking over the network's entire Thursday night line-up. But Rhimes said she takes it as "the best compliment ever" that her daughter has never seen it.
"I think about it like, her mother wrote a show that tells all her friends what to think about love and sex," she said. "So she's not interested in watching it, and I think that that's a very good thing."
Rhimes has three daughters, but Emerson is eight and Beckett is nine, so Harper's sisters are "far too young to watch it or even care," according to the showrunner.
Harper, Emerson, and Beckett are not the only people with a strong connection to "Grey's Anatomy" that have never seen an episode.
Ellen Pompeo, who has played Dr. Meredith Grey for 18 seasons and counting, told Insider in November promoting her company Betr Remedies, that she had only seen "six or seven" episodes of the series altogether and that most of the episodes she has watched are from the later seasons.
The actor has said on her "Tell Me With Ellen Pompeo" podcast that she doesn't think her 12-year-old daughter Stella Ivery is old enough to watch the medical drama yet.
Rhimes has long moved on from ABC, handing "Grey's" showrunner duties to Krista Vernoff and signing a deal with Netflix in 2018. "Inventing Anna" and "Bridgerton" are two of the hit shows Rhimes has produced for the streamer so far.
"Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
