Ellen Pompeo tells Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb to 'lay off the booze' over Patrick Dempsey tweet

Erin Donnelly

During her appearance on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk on Monday, Ellen Pompeo got frank about race, from raising three biracial children to fending off criticism from other people who she says “are threatened by my love of people of color or black culture.”

Ellen Pompeo wants people to focus on her thoughts on race, not Patrick Dempsey. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for InStyle)
Ellen Pompeo wants people to focus on her thoughts on race, not Patrick Dempsey. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for InStyle)

But while race dominated the conversation, some coverage has been fixated on one reference the actress made to former Grey’s Anatomy co-star Patrick Dempsey. Dempsey, who played Pompeo’s on-screen love interest, Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd, left the ABC medical drama in 2015.

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I wanna thank @ellenpompeo for blessing the table this week with such a candid conversation. What I love about Ellen is that she’s willing to sit in the fire and burn if need be. She knows conversations about race are risky and aren’t without criticism. She also knows that’s she’s learning along the way HOW to talk about race (like we all are) and will sometimes make mistakes a long the way (like many of us do). BUT… she’s not afraid and is willing to learn, she’s willing to fight, she’s willing to listen, she’s willing to understand, and she’s willing to take responsibility. In my eyes, her commitment and FEARLESSNESS makes her a gangsta’ ally in the mission to unify 🙌🏽✨Her episode is streaming now- link in profile @redtabletalk #RedTableTalk

A post shared by Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapinkettsmith) on Dec 10, 2018 at 9:00am PST

“We haven’t spoken since he’s left the show,” Pompeo confirmed when asked about her current relationship with Dempsey.

She went on to praise Dempsey as a “wonderful actor” and made it clear that there’s no bad blood.

Today.com was one of many outlets to focus on the McDreamy angle rather than Pompeo’s discussion of race, and the erasure clearly stung. When the Twitter account for Today’s Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb shared a story about her comments about Dempsey, Pompeo fired back.

The “booze” remark was a reference to the hosts’ habit of enjoying the occasional drink on-air. While Gifford and Kotb have yet to respond, many of Pompeo’s followers were living for the clap-back.

Pompeo also retweeted a comment expressing dismay that the show’s tackling of racial issues was “overshadowed” by headlines trying to stir up drama about her and Dempsey.

Maybe it’s best to leave the drama to Shonda Rhimes?

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