Cast Cuts for Ellen Pompeo’s Hefty Pay??

Ellen Pompeo says her that her new $20 million salary is not the reason co-stars Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew had to leave ABC‘s Grey’s Anatomy.

The 48-year-old appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Thursday and elaborated on the tweet she sent out earlier this month on the subject.

• “It’s absolutely not true,” said Pompeo. “I mean, I’m not involved in these kinds of decisions. However, there’s a few problems that you encounter doing a show for 14 seasons. One of them is the writers have a really hard time creatively thinking up new stories for all these characters. I think we have 16 regular cast members, and it’s always sad when we lose people – whether they want to go or they don’t want to go. It doesn’t make it any easier.”
• Pompeo caused an excited uproar earlier this year when she opened up about her salary negotiations, and revealed how she advocated for herself, eventually winning her $20 million salary after getting paid less than a male co-worker.
• On Ellen, she noted that women should support each other in the workplace, and that rumors of cast infighting and jealousy encourage the opposite.
• “I think that it’s important for us to not pit women against each other, and to really dispel the notion that women are always victims,” she said. “You don’t have to pit us against each other, we’re not enemies, we do lift each other up and support one each other, and we’re not victims. We’re very strong, and we’re capable of many, many things.”