Ellen Pompeo admits she was ‘salty’ that Patrick Dempsey was paid more on ‘Grey’s’ Anatomy’ after ‘13 failed TV pilots’

nypost.com:

former “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star Patrick Dempsey at the start of the ABC drama.The actress, 55, who has portrayed Meredith Grey since the season premiere in 2005, revealed that while she understood why Dempsey, 59, made more money at the time, it still felt unfair.“To be completely fair, the television game was so different then.

He had done 13 pilots before me…” Pompeo said on Wednesday’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “Nothing personal to him, just in general, only a man can have 13 failed TV pilots and their quote keeps going up, right?

But in all fairness, his quote was what it was.”Pompeo added that “Grey’s” was her first TV pilot, explaining, “He was a bigger star than I was at that point.

No one knew who I was. Everybody knew who he was, so he did deserve that money.”However, the “Good American Family” star felt since her character was the “namesake of the show,” she “deserved the same and then that was harder to get.”“I wasn’t salty about him getting what he got,” Pompeo continued. “I was salty that they didn’t value me as much as they valued him and they never will.”Pompeo ended up negotiating a new contract for herself, and by 2018, she had become the highest-paid actress in a television drama, raking in $20 million per season.“Being raised in a mafia culture, I always want to pay respect to the people that deserve respect,” Pompeo explained about her decision to tell Shonda Rhimes, the show’s creator, that she would be asking for more money.Rhimes’ team then showed the star the series’ statistics, which helped Pompeo plead her case.“I see exactly how much ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ makes for ABC/Disney,” she expressed. “I get to see the number.