McNightmare! Patrick 'McDreamy' Dempsey 'Fuming' at Grey's Anatomy Co-Star Ellen Pompeo After She Slammed Him on Podcast
Dempsey was slammed by Pompeo over their paychecks.
March 31 2025, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
Patrick Dempsey is said to be fuming after his former Grey's Anatomy co-star Ellen Pompeo seemingly ridiculed him for a plethora of previously failed TV pilots, before finally landing his "McDreamy" role on the hospital drama.
Pompeo was trying to make a point about their initial prime time pay disparity, RadarOnline.com can reveal, especially since, as the series lead, she put the "Grey" in Grey's Anatomy.
The 'McDreamy' actor was initially paid higher than Pompeo, even though she was the 'Grey.'
Pompeo, who has played Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital Dr. Meredith Grey since the show's debut, made headlines when she negotiated a huge $20million a year contract in 2017 to continue the role, making her one of television's highest paid actresses.
However, that wasn't always the case. When Grey's Anatomy debuted in 2005, Dempsey, who portrayed Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd, was already a well-known actor with an established Hollywood resume.
Pompeo was relatively new to the industry, and their paychecks reflected that. Dempsey's initial salary was $350,000 per episode, while Pompeo was pocketing around $200,000 per episode.
It's apparently still a sore subject for Pompeo, who recently told the Call Me Daddy podcast: "Being that I was the namesake of the show, I deserved the same (pay) and that was harder to get."
The star said she didn't hold it against Dempsey, explaining: "He was a bigger star than I was at that point. Everyone knew who he was, so he did deserve the money.
"I wasn’t salty about him getting what he got, I was salty that they didn’t value me as much as they valued him, and they never will."
Dempsey left the show at the end of season 12 in 2016. He has since gone on to find big-screen success in movies like Bridget Jones' Baby and the two Enchanted movies.
Although he is now gone, and Pompeo is quickly filling her piggy banks, she still took one more swipe at him on the podcast, saying: "To be completely fair, the television game was so different then. He had done 13 pilots before me.
"Nothing personal to him, just in general, only a man can have 13 failed TV pilots and their quote keeps going up, right?"
Dempsey and Pompeo reportedly did not get along well together.
The knock on his career reportedly took Dempsey by surprise – and left him feeling betrayed. A source close to the actor told New Idea: "He’s been completely blindsided – to tell the world about his fails before he made the big time is not the done thing in acting circles.
"It’s a real low blow and he’s not sure what he’s done to deserve it."
There seems to be no love lost between the on-screen couple. During his run on Grey's Dempsey butted heads so much with Pompeo and series creator Shonda Rimes she decided to kill him off.
According to former Grey's Anatomy executive producer James D. Parriott, Dempsey wasn't a fan of the long hours he had to work: "There were (Human Resources) issues."
"He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people."
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After hearing Pompeo's paycheck criticisms, the insider said Dempsey was at a loss of words: "He’s sorry she’s not yet been able to move onto bigger successes like he has, but he’s surprised that she would speak out as she has."
But Pompeo had "every right to speak her truth," according to her own friend.
Pompeo's pal pleaded: "Everyone knows they had no relationship after he left the show. It was hurtful to be cast aside by someone who probably wouldn’t have made it if it hadn’t been for their chemistry.
"She feels he’s not shown her the respect she deserves."
