Ellen Pompeo slams ‘The Bachelor’ creator Mike Fleiss for Kelly Ripa comment
ABC has quite the feud brewing under its own roof.
“Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo came to Kelly Ripa’s defense on Thursday after Ripa’s comments about “The Bachelor” on “Live With Kelly and Ryan” sparked a Twitter feud with the creator of the franchise, Mike Fleiss. On Thursday’s episode of the talk show, Hannah Brown, the woman at the center of the current season of “The Bachelorette,” also offered her thoughts on the situation.
On the May 14 edition of “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” Ripa shared her opinion on “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” franchise after co-host Ryan Seacrest revealed that Brown would be coming to their set on Thursday. Ripa took a stand against the shows, saying that they “disgust” her. She then called the audience out for watching the “gross, gross show.”
“You know how I feel about this show? It disgusts me. And I thought that I was disgusted because I couldn’t stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion. You know how we feel ladies! We are too special to be arguing over a guy,” Ripa said.
Fleiss and “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” host Chris Harrison both took to Twitter in response. Fleiss urged Ripa to take it easy as ABC houses both “Live With Kelly and Ryan” and “The Bachelor” franchise and “pays [her] salary.”
Easy, @KellyRipa … #TheBachelor franchise pays your salary!
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) May 15, 2019
Likewise, Harrison tweeted “Look out #BachelorNation @KellyRipa is coming after you and your ‘disgusting’ Monday night habit.”
Look out #BachelorNation @KellyRipa is coming after you and your “disgusting” Monday night habit.
— Chris Harrison (@chrisbharrison) May 15, 2019
Another high-profile talent at ABC, Pompeo, swooped in via Twitter with a counterargument. The actress called Fleiss out for taking credit for a woman’s success, saying “The Bachelor” series does not pay Ripa’s salary and threatened to add her own thoughts about the reality dating show.
Okay @fleissmeister… that’s some handle bro! Your show does NOT pay @KellyRipa salary. Also we don’t attack successful women on our network and men certainly cannot take credit for their success. Don’t get me started on your show cuz I’m a savage…. #bachelorsoooowhite
— Ellen Pompeo (@EllenPompeo) May 16, 2019
On Thursday’s edition of “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” Brown weighed in on the situation, saying she didn’t follow the franchise at first, but being on the show has changed her mind and empowered her. Ripa maintained her stance.
“Like you, I didn’t really follow the show, wasn’t a big fan, but being part of the show, it’s not women fighting against each other,” Brown said. “Some of my best friends came from the show and were really supportive.”
