Ellen Pompeo Admits She Was ‘Nervous’ to Reveal Her ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Salary
In January, Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo made major waves when she admitted not only how much money she makes starring on the long-running hospital drama, but also how she fought for the money she makes. The interview was all anyone could talk about for several days, and now the actress is explaining why she thought it was important to share the details of her income with fans.
Sitting down with Jimmy Kimmel, the 48-year-old said that her “big mouth” and honesty often get her in trouble, and that she was “nervous” about what the reaction to her interview would be. “I’m grateful that it was received in the way in which I intended it to be, which was as an empowering story for women and to also be very honest about my faults and my shortcomings,” she said.
“Because I think that there’s a lot of blame, especially right now. People are blaming people. There’s a lot of finger pointing, but there’s less people owning up to their side of things. And I wanted to sort of do a truthful interview and talk about my road to my own empowerment and how I got there, but also mistakes I’ve made along the way.”
Pompeo said that the number of women who have approached her to thank her for speaking truthfully about her salary showed her that she made the right move. “As women, you know, it’s not only about what’s done to us or what’s not given to us. It’s what don’t we ask for,” she told Kimmel.
“You know, how much of it is [it] isn’t given to us, or is it that we don’t ask? I think that as much as we can point the finger at other people and [say], ‘You don’t give us or you don’t treat us fairly,’ we also have to point the finger at ourselves and say, ‘Did we ask? Did we step up and have the uh, gumption, to ask for what a man would?’ We have to own part of it. And sometimes we’re too shy; we’re too afraid to be seen as difficult to really speak our mind.”
In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pompeo shocked fans by getting meg- candid about her recent contract negotiations, which ended with her signing on for two more seasons as Meredith Grey. She’s now set to make $575,000 per episode, but that’s not all: She’ll also receive a seven-figure signing bonus, increased residual payments from past seasons, a producing fee on both Grey’s and the upcoming firefighter spinoff, plus office space for her production company, Calamity Jane.
What do you think about Ellen Pompeo’s contract real talk? Let us know @BritandCo!
(photo via ABC/Bob D’Amico)
