Pulling the Plug on McDreamy
After Rhimes cryptically admitted on the Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore in 2015 that she had killed a character in the Shondaverse because she didn’t like the actor, speculation swirled that the corpse was Dempsey’s Derek, who had long since chosen to love Meredith when he was devastatingly killed off at the end of season 11.
Asked for his diagnosis, Dempsey told EW that Rhimes “loves being provocative and that’s fine for who she is.” Calling her “an amazing woman who’s incredibly productive,” he added, “I think she knows how to deal with the media and what she needs to say to get the response that she’s looking for.”
Per How to Save a Life, tensions were high between Dempsey, Rhimes and cast members who, according to former executive producer James D. Parriott, “had all sorts of PTSD with him.” But by then, Parriott said, Dempsey “was just done with the show.”
Pompeo “would get angry that he wasn’t working as much,” former executive producer Jeannine Renshaw said, per Rice’s book. “She was very big on having things be fair.”
Any alleged wounds were salved enough to welcome Dempsey back to be in comatose Meredith’s dream in season 17.
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