Ellen Pompeo says no one gets residuals for the first 10 years of Grey's Anatomy

Pompeo’s tenure on the medical drama has been impressive, to say the absolute least. While she’s watched as many co-stars depart as Meredith has lost friends and colleagues, she’s appeared in almost every episode—over 400 at this point—of the seemingly eternal Shonda Rhimes-created series. She officially left her position as a series regular in season 19, but she still appeared in a handful of episodes even with the reduced billing. 

Recently, it was confirmed that Pompeo would be returning for an expanded role in the show’s upcoming 22nd season (in addition to serving as an executive producer), which she said was largely about the money. “Them having the ability to use my voice, my likeness, my image, 47 billion minutes a year and not paying me a penny wouldn’t really feel great to me,” she said. “So, me being on the show a little bit and still getting to at least make money from them profiting off of us is more digestible for me. That’s why I stay on, to be honest.”

This is hardly the first time Pompeo has spoken out about issues with the pay structure on Grey’s. She’s been very vocal throughout the years regarding the initial pay disparity between her and former co-star Patrick Dempsey, and the fight for fair wages that—through much blood, sweat, and tears—at one point made her one of the highest paid actors on television. She recently dipped into the topic again on an episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. “Nothing personal to [Dempsey], just in general, only a man can have 13 failed TV pilots and their quote keeps going up, right?” she quipped, before acknowledging that Dempsey “did deserve that money.” 

“It’s just, being that I was the namesake of the show, I deserved the same and that was harder to get,” she continued. “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.”