Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey ‘terrorised the set’

Patrick Dempsey has been accused of leaving his Grey’s Anatomy castmates with “all sorts of PTSD” before his shock exit.

It seems as though Dr McDreamy was a McNightmare on set towards the end of his tenure on Grey’s Anatomy.

Patrick Dempsey’s infamous departure during season 11 of the long-running medical drama shocked fans and critics at the time.

Now, Lynette Rice’s new book, How To Save A Life: The Inside Story Of Grey’s Anatomy, is shedding light on why Dempsey, 55, reportedly left the series.

The frequent rom-com actor was a series regular from 2005 until 2015 where he played Dr Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd. Lead actress Ellen Pompeo (Dr Meredith Grey) portrayed his love interest and later his wife.

Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey played on-screen love interests.

Rice’s unauthorised Grey’s book detailed what allegedly went down between Dempsey and the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes. In an excerpt released by the Hollywood Reporter, the book claimed he was “terrorising the set” which it attributed to the relentless schedule taking its toll on the star.

Grey’s Anatomy producer James D. Parriott was brought in to help craft the Valentine’s Day star’s exit.

“There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorising the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him,” Parriott alleged in the book. “He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people. The network and studio came down and we had sessions with them. I think he was just done with the show.

“He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda were at each other’s throats.”

He reportedly had issues with other cast members on set. Picture: ABC/Richard Foreman

The book has a quote from Dempsey regarding his behaviour on set: “It’s 10 months, 15 hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, ‘What are you doing on Monday?’ And you go, ‘I don’t know,’ because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for 11 years is challenging. But you have to be grateful because you’re well-compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible.”

Jeannine Renshaw, another producer on the show, revealed in the excerpt that Rhimes “finally witnessed” the actor’s not-so-nice behaviour and it was reportedly “the final straw”.

“Shonda had to say to the network, ‘If he doesn’t go, I go.’ Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show,” Renshaw claimed. “Him and Ellen [Pompeo]. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey ‘terrorised the set’