Grey’s Anatomy is currently in the 17th season. Since its debut in 2005, the medical drama has had several celebrities, including Demi Lovato, Millie Bobby Brown and Sarah Poulson.
In addition to star-studded guests, Gray caught the attention of many celebrities. Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith Gray, shared in 2018 that the late Kobe Bryant loved the show.
Ellen Pompeo said Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant were fans of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
Pompeo leads Grey’s Anatomy like Meredith Gray for almost two decades. When fans met Meredith, she was a surgery intern navigating her career and her recent love affair with Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). As the series progressed, the actor became synonymous with Gray and watched a lot of the original cast members come and go. Pompeo also produced and directed several episodes.
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While reflecting on Grey’s Anatomyimpact of with The Late Late Show with James Corden, Pompeo revealed that NBA stars Bryant and Chris Paul watched the show. Although she said that Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, and Paul’s wife, Jada Crawley, forced them to watch Gray, the actor explained how the star-studded fans helped the cast of Gray at the time.
“Wives make them watch or something, but they are convenient fans because we like to go to the games,” said Pompeo of Bryant and Paul in September 2019.
Ellen Pompeo defended Kobe Bryant after his death in 2020
On January 26, 2020, Bryant died in a plane crash at the age of 41. The Black Mamba, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, and seven other people were going to Gigi’s basketball game when they died that Sunday afternoon.
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Several days after the death of Bryant and the other victims of the plane crash, the news that TMZ leaked the story of the accident before the families found out. Soon, fans filed a change.org petition asking Fox to cancel the channel’s television program. Pompeo supported the movement in it Twitter page and called “time out” in TMZ ‘s creator, Harvey Levin.
“So many questions I have,” said the actor’s tweet. “If we are no longer tolerating abuse … shouldn’t we complain about it? Exploring women who have been abused … exploring the sudden and brutal death of loved ones is certainly an emotional abuse … I call hours about his behavior. ”
Meredith Gray’s actor also noted in another tweet that Levin’s willingness to tell the story of Bryant’s death is an example of “the white man’s privilege.”
Ellen Pompeo compared her time as Meredith Gray to Kobe Bryant’s time in the NBA
In 2018, Pompeo became the highest-paid TV actor in Hollywood. The Meredith Gray star revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that she accepted an increase in salary from ABC. She currently earns more than $ 20 million a year and $ 575,000 per episode. In addition, Pompeo received two total backend equity points in the series, estimated to bring in another $ 6 million to $ 7 million.
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Shortly after her new payday made headlines, Pompeo said she “got criticized” because of her salary. Salary became an even bigger problem after actors Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew were fired from the show a week after Pompeo announced her contract. The actor shared with Entertainment Tonight in 2019 that the negative comments he received from his raise did not affect her. She also compared her salary to the millions of dollars that NBA stars like Bryant received during their careers.
“If Kobe Bryant, and I know he doesn’t play anymore, but if these athletes can make these paychecks and it can be celebrated, women should be able to celebrate too,” said Pompeo.