Ellen Pompeo did not hold back when it came to discussing money during her “Call Her Daddy” appearance.
“I became aware at a very early age that people with money had power, and I didn’t have any power as a young woman. I didn’t like the way that felt,” Pompeo, 55, said during the Wednesday, March 19, podcast episode. “I would watch people, all men, who had a lot of money and a lot of power. I looked up to them and thought they were incredibly cool.”
Pompeo explained that because of her “intense” Boston upbringing, she was referring to “mafia guys” that were “really bad people” — but incredibly rich.
“They just had this command. That to me was like, they had it. They had stature, they had money, they had power,” the actress continued. “I equated money with power very early on.”
Grey’s Anatomy’s Ellen Pompeo Through the Years
Knowing how “freeing” it was to have financial independence was something that Pompeo always kept in the back of her mind.
“For women, financial freedom is true independence,” she said. “To be financially independent to me is what makes me the happiest, feel the most free. I don’t ever have to do anything I don’t want to do.”
Keep scrolling to read Pompeo’s honest quotes about money:
Detailing Her Initial Contract
“At a certain point, I had a choice to sort of finish my contract or stay. At the age I was, I was like, ‘Oh, well, I’ll be 40 when my first contract is up.’ I better re-sign and take this money,” she recalled. “Back then, 20 years ago, women at 40, it’s over. That’s a wrap, honey.”
At the time, Pompeo thought it was “the most money” and “most opportunity” she would ever have.
Use the Patriarchy to Your Advantage
Pompeo said she’s “not even mad” about climbing any financial ladder alongside a successful man.
“Go ahead, get next to him and use him to level up. Just step right on him and just level up. Don’t stay under him,” she said. “Do what you have to do, girl. Use him, get right next to him, pick his pockets and keep it moving. It’s OK. I’m not mad at any woman who does whatever she can to get where she needs to go. Just get there and keep it moving.”
Her ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Origin Story
The actress started off her career in movies but when she had “no money left,” Pompeo’s agent convinced her to try filming the show’s pilot which would allow her to “make a bunch of money.”
Negotiating the $20 Million Salary
News broke in 2018 that Pompeo had negotiated a $20 million salary for her Grey’s Anatomy role. She didn’t need to speak with the show’s creator Shonda Rhimes before asking for the raise — but did anyway.
“Being a woman, I guess I’m conditioned to make sure that I’m not stepping on anybody’s toes and I’m being polite,” Pompeo recalled. “I asked Shonda first — she doesn’t really have much to do with that stuff, it’s business affairs and whatever — but I said to her, ‘I’m going to go in and ask for this much, are you cool with that?’ Just because I don’t want to be disrespectful to her, I don’t want to come off crazy and I want to let her know what moves I’m making because I do respect her. I am grateful to her.”
Ellen Pompeo Calls Out Netflix for Not Paying ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Residuals
Pompeo had the data when asking for the money, noting that she will never ask for anything that she didn’t work for or deserve.
“I am the Disney princess of that franchise. I have the data to back [it] up, I know the show generated this much money I definitely deserve a percentage of that,” she said. “I advocate for women always fighting for themselves because most likely they are getting undervalued compared to what they’re offering men.”
Reactions to the Money
Before the news went public, Pompeo’s manager asked: “Are you ready to be unpopular?”
This was something that had “never occurred” to her, but quickly realized “it’s true.” Pompeo said it was less of who reached out after the news and more of who didn’t.
“I got a lot of emails that day when that story came out from amazing people,” she said. “Then the ones who are quiet you know who don’t say anything, and you see it, and you’re like OK. I don’t know what to say, don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
Going Up Against Patrick Dempsey
Pompeo has spoken at length about asking for the same money as her Grey’s Anatomy costar.
“Nothing personal to him but just in general, only a man can fail can have 13 failed TV pilots and their quote still keeps going up. But in all fairness his quote was what it was, he was a bigger star than I was at that point,” she explained. “No one knew who I was, everybody knew who he was. He did deserve that money, I’m not saying he didn’t deserve that money. I was the namesake of the show. I deserved the same and that was harder to get.”
She was “salty” that the network didn’t value her the same way.
Power — and How Times Are Changing
“When you make a lot of money as a woman, let’s face it, you have power. So then how can I take that power and do good with it? How can I amplify someone else? How can I help someone else? How can I lift up someone else who doesn’t sit in the position of privilege that I sit in?” she said. “F— what people think of me, who cares? You can’t control that. What you can do is use your power for good.”
Elsewhere in the podcast, Pompeo also credited how the entertainment industry has changed.
“Women in this industry are so incredible because look at how far we’ve come and every little bit matters,” she said. “But we all collectively push this giant boulder up a hill and we’ve gotten it to a really good place where, here I am at 55 years old — I just turned 55 last month — I’m getting a whole second chapter.”
