Grey’s Anatomy star’s explosive fight with Denzel Washington

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo has revealed the major star who “went ham” on her during a huge blow-up on the Grey’s Anatomy set.

Ellen Pompeo, never one to pull a verbal punch, has revealed the man who was perhaps her most A-list opponent ever: Denzel Washington.

Their nasty sparring match — in which she claims Washington “went ham on [her] arse” — occurred when the two-time Oscar winner checked into Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to direct an episode of Grey’s Anatomy way back in 2016, the actress-producer said during the new episode of her Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo podcast.

She told her special guest, former co-star Patrick “McDreamy” Dempsey, how it all began when she decided a fellow actor wasn’t delivering a performance that was up to her specs.

“He made this choice to speak very softly — and I was pissed that I had to sit there and listen to this apology,” Pompeo, 51, recalled to Dempsey, 55, who fans will recall was also recently accused of “terrorising” the Grey’s Anatomy set.

“And he wasn’t looking at me in the eye,” the show’s titular star continued regarding her underperforming scene partner. “Again, we love actors who make choices. And I yelled at him, I was like, ‘Look at me! When you apologise, look at me!’ And that wasn’t in the dialogue.”

Pompeo has spilled on the on-set blow-up.

Washington was unimpressed with Pompeo’s interference. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

But her attempt to snatch up the directorial reins from Washington, 66, with a little improv didn’t sit well with The Hurricane superstar.

“Denzel went ham on my arse,” Pompeo said. “He was like, ‘I’m the director! Don’t you tell him what to do!’ I was like, ‘Listen, motherf**ker, this is my show! This is my set! Who are you telling? You barely even know where the bathroom is!’”

The actress went on to proclaim her admiration and “utmost respect for him as an actor, as a director, as everything” — but also admitted that didn’t stop her from running to tattle to his wife, Pauletta Washington, 71.

“I told his wife, I was like, ‘Yeah, he yelled at me today. He let me have it today, and I’m not OK with him, and I’m not looking at him, and I’m not talking to him.’”

Pompeo also revealed that showrunner/executive producer Debbie Allen recruited Washington to direct season 12’s pivotal The Sound of Silence episode, in which her character, Meredith Grey, has her jaw broken by an epileptic patient, and struggles with forgiveness. It was intended as a “surprise” to keep TV’s $27 million woman interested in the show after a dozen years — but “we didn’t get through it without a fight”.

However, in the end, working with the Philadelphia icon “was an amazing experience, it really was,” she said. “That’s what it takes to get the good s**t. We were fine after that. He’s just one of the best to ever do it.”

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Grey’s Anatomy star’s explosive fight with Denzel Washington