“ alternatively of come off as she continue because she hold back a mint of people employed , it almost comes off selfish , like it ’s my show and they are n’t allow to make money doing it after I impart , ” one person said about Ellen , whose $ 20 - million pay was made public in 2018 .
For some super quick context, Ellen has played the titular Meredith Grey on ABC’s medical dramaGrey’sAnatomyfor two decades. In 2023, shetook a step backfrom leading the show and now only appears in a handful of episodes.
Over the years, Ellen has remained committed todiscussing her financestime and again — namely after her$20-million salarywas madepublicin 2018. And now, Ellen has opened up about the subject once again during a new interview withEl País, where she explained why she’s reluctant to step away fromGrey’scompletely.
“That would make no sense, emotionally or financially,” Ellen said. “The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024. More than a billion times. The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces.”
Ellen then said, “If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn’t make any money. To me, it doesn’t make any sense that everybody [else] gets to profit off of my hard work. And emotionally, the show means a lot to people. I want to have an attitude of gratitude toward the show.”
Several people have since called out Ellen’s remarks, branding her“privileged”and questioning why she seemingly doesn’t want her coworkers profiting from the show without her. One Reddit userwrote, “I’m really confused about this…if she left, people wouldn’t be profiting off her hard work while she doesn’t…she’s already been paid for the past seasons. If she leaves, then they wouldn’t be profiting off her hard work, she didn’t create the show…yes, she’s been the titular character this whole time, but if she leaves she’s already been paid for her job. Who is profiting off HER work?”
“At one point wasn’t she paid like $20 million a year, making her the highest paid actress at the time? She made her bank, how would her moving on result in other people profiting off her work when she’s already been paid? Obviously if she leaves she won’t get paid for new episodes because she wouldn’t work on those episodes, so that’s not other people stealing ‘her work,’ it would be her not being paid for work she didn’t do,” they continued.
Someone else echoed , “ Instead of coming off as she remain because she keeps a slew of multitude employed , it almost comes off selfish , like it ’s my show and they are n’t allowed to make money doing it after I leave . ”
“ Refusing to move on from a show because you do n’t want others to keep to make money after you ’ve entrust is a uncanny af matter to say on a show with maaaaany more people regard than just you , ” another persontweeted , while one more pointedout , “ Sandra Oh has the most emmy nominations for Grey ’s even though she leave the show 12 years ago . She carried the show on her back for 10 season … It ’s revolting to reduce the toilsome work of so many people to yourself only . ”
Elsewhere, some internet users praised Ellen’s candid approach to wanting to keep a stable job. “I love her attitude toward her job. A lot of people poo-poo the idea of actors staying in one place, especially on TV, but if I could have a stable, regular job for 20 years that paid me millions of dollars a year, I would be a happy little clam,” one personsaid.
“ If someone was paying me Meredith Grey money , I ’d be doing spectacular voiceover study until my bones turn to detritus , ” someone quipped , while another jest : “ Even Hollywood knows now is not the metre to leave a caper . ”
