‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Crew Say Patrick Dempsey Was “Terrorizing the Set” Before Exit

The Grey’s Anatomy cast and crew have opened up about Patrick Dempsey‘s major exit from the series, which was apparently not as peaceful as folks initially thought. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there were actually major “HR issues” surrounding his character’s shocking death in Season 11. Dempsey had issues with the cast and crew, including showrunner Shonda Rhimes and love interest Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey). In Lynette Rice’s new book How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, Dempsey’s exit is broken down in great detail.

When Dempsey initially left the show, he cited his family as the reason for his exit. The actor opened up in a 2016 interview with People, telling the outlet “I’m very grateful for Grey’s Anatomy. It’s given me the opportunity to do everything. But at the same time, there was a cost,” he said. “It was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I probably should have moved on a couple of years earlier. I stayed a bit longer than I should have.”

Rhimes also commented on his exit in her 2015 Summer TCA press tour, adding, “We’re family. Those choices and those decisions are never easy for any of us.” But according to these new bombshell interviews, there was much more at stake than just Dempsey’s family.

Dempsey had an extended absence in the eleventh season of Grey’s, and fans were nervous about his exit. According to THR, there was a “critical reason” behind McDreamy’s absence: “behind the scenes, there was talk of Dempsey’s diva-like fits and tension between him and Pompeo.”

In order to soothe on-set tensions, the show brought back executive producer James D. Parriott to serve as a “veritable Dempsey whisperer.” Parriott opened up about the experience, sharing that Dempsey and Rhimes “were at each other’s throats.”

“There were HR issues,” Parriott said. “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.”

Grey’s writer and producer Jeannine Renshaw also shared insight about working with Dempsey and Pompeo, who seemed to be at-odds throughout the entirety of his last season.

“There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much,” Renshaw said. “She was very big on having things be fair. She just didn’t like that Patrick would complain that ‘I’m here too late’ or ‘I’ve been here too long’ when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did.”

Even in these new interviews, Dempsey still cites his family as the reason behind his exit. While complaining about the work schedule, Dempsey opened up about having to find time for Grey‘s because the pay was worth the stress: “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.”

One longtime crew member did come to Dempsey’s defense. “Poor Patrick. I’m not defending his schtick,” they said, adding, “He was just shut out in the cold. His behavior wasn’t the greatest, but he had nowhere to go. He was so miserable. He had no one to talk to.

Toward the end, Pariott said the negotiating came down to three different scenarios. Rhimes had reportedly told the network that “If he doesn’t go, I go,” so the writers began preparing for his exit.

“It was ultimately decided that just bringing him back was going to be too hard on the other actors,” Parriott recalled of Dempsey’s exit. “The studio just said it was going to be more trouble than it was worth and decided to move on.”

And so, just like that, McDreamy was written off the show. The new book also details his Season 11 exit, describing the in-depth secrecy everyone was bound to while shooting his fateful final episode. Dempsey returned to Grey’s in the series’ most recent season, visiting Meredith on her limbo beach.

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