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Grey’s Anatomy star slammed for ‘disgusting’ Weinstein comments in resurfaced 2018 interview

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo was asked about disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Her answer has fans horrified.

Claire Spellberg
2 min read
April 24, 2020 - 6:45AM
Grey’s Anatomy star slammed for ‘disgusting’ Weinstein comments in resurfaced 2018 interview

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo has come under fire for comments she made about Harvey Weinstein in a July 2018 interview.

In a resurfaced clip from an Oxford Union Q&A, Pompeo says that “it takes two to tango” when it comes to sexual assault and harassment, and she adds that women must be “responsible for the signals that we put out, for the messages that we put and the way we present ourselves.” The video ignited a firestorm on Twitter, with users calling her “victim blaming” remarks “absolutely disgusting” and “insane.”


In a brief clip from Pompeo’s 2018 Oxford Union interview, Pompeo discusses the #MeToo movement and seems to suggest that Weinstein’s victims are partly to blame for their trauma. “I think we bear some responsibility, not all,” she says. “That’s not to blame the victim, that’s just to say — I did go into a room with Harvey Weinstein, I sat at a table with him, I had a probably two and a half-hour with him. He never said anything inappropriate to me, he never made any sort of physical advance to me.”

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Pompeo clarifies that she “wasn’t in the room alone with” Weinstein, and “had been sent there by an agent” for a midday meeting. “I wouldn’t have gone into that room at night. But he did nothing inappropriate toward me. Now had he, I would have picked up that glass and smashed him across the side of the face with it,” says the Grey’s Anatomy star. “So I mean, it’s all what we’re willing to tolerate in our self-esteem, and what are we going to put up with, and what are we going to compromise to be liked, to be loved, to be accepted? How bad do we want to be in show business?”

Pompeo (right) with former Grey’s Anatomy co-star Sandra Oh.
Pompeo (right) with former Grey’s Anatomy co-star Sandra Oh.
Disgraced Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein. Picture: AP
Disgraced Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein. Picture: AP

Later in the interview, Pompeo says that “we are all responsible for ourselves” and claims that she doesn’t “love a victim behaviour.” The actress noted that “as women, we flirt,” but concluded, “There has to be a balance there. There has to be a line. But I do think we do bear some responsibility.”

Pompeo addressed the furore today, tweeting that the remarks were “out of context” and the issue was “too serious to talk about on a platform like this.”


The star’s response came after she was widely slammed for the 2018 remarks. “What the f**k is wrong with Ellen Pompeo,” said one user who shared the video. “What a dumbass saying she’s not victim blaming but saying ‘it takes two to tango.’ Tango as in assault?!” tweeted another. “Every year Ellen Pompeo makes it more likely that I will never watch Grey’s Anatomy,” added actress Kelechi Okafor.

If you’re interested, the full, hour-long Q&A is available on YouTube.

This story originally appeared on Decider and is republished here with permission.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/greys-anatomy-star-slammed-for-disgusting-weinstein-comments-in-resurfaced-2018-interview/news-story/0a7349ac609cc7ad726f101d9abf719b