In a recent interview with Variety, "Grey's Anatomy" creator and former showrunner Shonda Rhimes responded to the backlash Ellen Pompeo has faced in recent weeks for admitting she fought with Denzel Washington in 2015, while he was on set directing a season 12 episode of the hit medical drama.
When Pompeo's former costar Patrick Dempsey was a guest on her podcast "Tell Me With Ellen Pompeo," the actor recalled some harsh words she had for Washington when he directed "The Sound Of Silence," which aired in February 2016.
Pompeo remembered an intense fight she had with the "Training Day" star when she changed a line of dialogue in the script. It was during a scene after an epileptic patient broke the jaw of her character, fictional doctor Meredith Grey.
According to Pompeo, the guest actor playing the epileptic patient "made this choice to speak very softly" and wasn't looking at her in the eye, so she yelled at him to look at her when he apologized. "And that wasn't in the dialogue," she recalled.
"Denzel went ham on my ass. He was like, 'I'm the director. Don't you tell him what to do," Pompeo recalled on the podcast. But she had a retort for the "Training Day" star. "And I was like, 'listen motherfucker, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling? You barely know where the bathroom is.'"
According to Variety, Rhimes looked "mystified" when the drama was explained to her (she's been busy writing the "Bridgerton" prequel), and replied, "Oh, the episode like years ago?"
When asked by Variety if she felt relieved that "Grey's Anatomy" on-set drama wasn't part of her day anymore, Rhimes said, "The relief and the luxury that I have is that I don't really pay attention to Twitter or Instagram — or articles."
"But I also feel like Ellen's going to be Ellen," she added.
Rhimes is no longer involved in storytelling decisions on "Grey's Anatomy."
"I've handed off all the reins entirely," she told Variety. Krista Vernoff, who was a writer on the show from seasons one through seven, took over as showrunner in season 14.
"Grey's Anatomy" season 18 airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
