Patrick Dempsey's exit involved "HR issues": "He sort of was terrorizing the set"

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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...it-1235012803/

Entertainment Weekly editor-at-large Lynette Rice conducted more than 80 interviews for her oral history book How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, which will be released on Tuesday and which is being excerpted in The Hollywood Reporter. The book details alleged "HR issues" involving Dempsey, accusing the McDreamy actor of having "diva-like fits" amid tension with co-star Ellen Pompeo. It all came to head in Season 11 when executive producer James D. Parriott was brought back to serve as a "veritable Dempsey whisperer." "Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes," says Parriott. "There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people. The network and studio came down and we had sessions with them. I think he was just done with the show. He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda were at each other’s throats." Co-executive producer Jeannine Renshaw adds: "I think Shonda finally witnessed it herself, and that was the final straw. Shonda had to say to the network, 'If he doesn’t go, I go.' Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show. Him and Ellen. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business." For his part, Dempsey says of his behavior on set: "It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, 'What are you doing on Monday?' And you go, 'I don’t know,' because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for eleven years is challenging. But you have to be grateful, because you’re well compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible." Dempsey adds of learning of his exit: "I don’t remember the date (I got the news). It was not in the fall. Maybe February or March. It was just a natural progression. And the way everything was unfolding in a very organic way, it was like, 'Okay! This is obviously the right time.' Things happened very quickly. We were like, “Oh, this is where it’s going to go.”

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Isaiah Washington Claims Ellen Pompeo Was Paid to Keep Quiet About Patrick Dempsey’s Behavior and More ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Set Allegations

Not holding back. While reflecting on his past roles, Isaiah Washington called out his experience on the allegedly “toxic” Grey’s Anatomy set as an example of mistreatment.

“Every single day I was a problem that was being reminded, ‘You’re No. 4 on the call sheet. You’re not the star of this show,”‘ Washington, 58, told Tavis Smiley from KBLA Talk 1580 radio on October 21.

From the Living Single alum’s perspective, his time on the medical drama was just a prelude to him being “used as a scapegoat” to cover up other problems on set. Washington used his 2007 firing, after he allegedly used a homophobic slur, as an example of the supposed “agenda.”

“It was easy. I didn’t know that it would stick to me so hard. But I found out why,” he claimed. “It was an agenda to cover up for the toxic and bad behavior of many of my former castmates on that show. And the top of that would be Patrick Dempsey.”

Washington’s allegations against costars including Dempsey, 55, come after a recently released book, How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, brought back the conversation about the fight that led to his exit. In Lynette Rice‘s tell-all, writer Mark Wilding opened up about the explosive fight between the P-Valley star and the Sweet Home Alabama star.

Isaiah Was Offered Money Not to Take 'Grey's Anatomy' Audition​

The 100 alum revealed that he was originally offered money not to audition for Grey's Anatomy, which was the beginning of him feeling like he "was never wanted there."

"I originally went in to be Derek Shepherd, a brain surgeon. I was paid $10,000 not to take the audition. Or do any television. I took the money," Washington said.

The Texas native still auditioned for the role because at the time he wanted to play "the highest level of my intellect and build my brand."

"I got called back, read with Ellen Pompeo. She made the executive decision [not to hire me] because she had a Black boyfriend, she didn't feel comfortable," he added. "Now she said that to me at catering once I was actually on the show as Dr. Burke. I was passed over, it was over."

Pompeo previously addressed rumors that Washington was originally set to play her on screen love interest.

“You know they wanted Isaiah Washington to be my boyfriend,” the Old School actress, who was dating Chris Ivery at the time, told the New York Post in 2013. “Shonda really wanted to put a Black man in the mix. I didn’t think they were really going to put an interracial couple on the show and I didn’t want him. It was too close to home.”

Although he later joined the ABC series, Washington didn't feel welcome from his first day on set.

"I was at a table read, Peter Horton, formally of Thirtysomething, came over and said, 'I thought we got rid of you,'" the True Crime star recalled. "Patrick Dempsey walks in, didn't think I could see him with the reflection, throws up his hands, like, 'What is he doing here?' That's day one."

The 'Grey's Anatomy' Casting Team Wasn't Happy With Isaiah's Appearance​

For the Love Jones star, it was important for him to keep his dreadlocks, afro and his goatee while initially being considered for Grey's Anatomy.

"Everything that I was known for because I wanted to prove the point, 'What does our intellect have to do with our hair?' We could still be bright and still be surgeons," he noted.

Once Washington joined the cast, he received a call the night before his first table read to get rid of his afro and his goatee.

"Now this is an opportunity to play an incredible character, I'm getting a second chance. I call my barber and he gets to my condo at about midnight," the Hollywood Homicide star shared. "I'm getting a haircut and I'm shaving this goatee off because now I can play this strong, powerful and beautiful male who was at the height of my intellect and who was in charge. So I'm thinking, 'This is a positive.'"

Even though Washington did what he was asked, he recalled how the next day creator Shonda Rhimes came in and screamed at him, "What did you f--king do?"

"People say things end when they start, it began as subterfuge," the Fox host said.

Patrick Dempsey Was a Negative Presence on Set​

While discussing his past issues with Dempsey, Washington considered money to be the initial problem between them.

"At this point, I was the highest paid person on that show, next to Patrick Dempsey. Apparently, it got out, so there was a lot of resentment. I understand that but it was based on my roles and my resume. I can't help that," the Ghost Ship star explained. "He was called Pilot Poison. No one wanted him on the show. They wanted Rob Lowe."

Washington noted that although Dempsey received a lot of attention for his role, the Enchanted star was allegedly under an immense amount of stress.

"He was not a nice guy from day one. But he liked me and once I had a conversation with him, he said, 'Isaiah, do you know that white men are the masters of the universe?' And I said, 'You really believe that?' And he said 'Absolutely,'" Washington claimed.

The Infamous ‘F-Slur’ Was Directed at Patrick Dempsey​

As tensions built up between Washington and Dempsey, the "simmering of disrespect" only got worse when the Maine native continued to show up to set late.
"That Monday, he is late. Instead of apologizing for it, he got in my face and assaulted me three times. Physically," Washington claimed. "I did what I had to do as a man. And I cussed him out."

The Romeo Must Die star recalled using a slur when referring to himself. "'You're not going to punk me, you're not going to treat me like a B-word and you're not going to treat me like an F-word," Washington said he told Dempsey at the time. "I was speaking to myself as we refer to as a schoolyard taunt and weakness. Talking about myself. But I had already heard the abuse, that he threw Kate Walsh through a window out of anger. That he terrorized T. R. Knight."

Although Knight, 48, wasn't in the room, Washington went on to say that he made up with Dempsey quickly but the situation was still reported for personal gain.

"It went from us having a brawl, which was never a brawl, to me saying something about T.R.," he added. "And the day I left, the last day I shot, Patrick said, 'Dude, you think you got it bad. You get to go down in history. Being a homophobe. I get to go down in history saving the gay guy.'"

While calling Dempsey a "total tyrant" with "no remorse," he acknowledged apologizing as a way to keep his job even though he didn't feel like he did anything wrong.
"I was gagged at the Golden Globes. The narrative changed and then it got stuck on me. I was coerced to apologize," he claimed. "But when I used the word during the Golden Globes then everybody could say, 'He must have said it on the set and he must have said it to T.R. because he just said it.' I told the truth, it just wasn't the right time to tell the truth."

Ellen Pompeo Was Paid to Not Discuss Patrick Dempsey’s Behavior​

During his interview, Washington alleged that Pompeo was "unnerved" by the success of her other costars.

"She couldn't believe that everybody was more interested in me and Sandra [Oh] and everybody else than her. So I am not shocked that she said what she said [about Denzel Washington]," the Law & Order alum said. “She really thinks that she’s cool with Black people like that, but she’s not.”

During a September episode of her "Tell Me" podcast, Pompeo recalled facing off with Denzel when he directed a 2016 episode of Grey's Anatomy. After the Massachusetts native gave notes about a scene she was in, the director took issue with that, reportedly saying, "Don’t you tell him what to do.’”

In response, Pompeo recalled firing back, "Listen, motherf--ker, this is my show. This is my set. Who are you telling?’ Like, ‘You barely know where the bathroom is.'" Pompeo explained that they later figured out their differences.

Washington also claimed that the Life of the Party star "took $5 million dollars under the table" during the height of the Me Too era "to not tell the world how toxic and nasty Patrick Dempsey really was."