Pitting women against each other? On International Women’s Day?!
The exit of Drew and Capshaw was first reported by Deadline, which wrote that the actors are leaving “on the heels of the blockbuster new Pompeo pact that gave her a significant salary increase, paying her as much as $20 million a year, including signing bonus, producing fees, ownership in the show and other extras.” Drawing a connection between the two did not sit well with either Pompeo or Grey’s co-showrunner Krista Vernoff — especially on International Women’s Day.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Vernoff added that sometimes, part of keeping the show moving is “saying goodbye to characters we love.”
“The characters of Arizona and April are permanently woven into the fabric of Grey’s Anatomy thanks to the extraordinary work of Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew,” Vernoff said. “As writers, our job is to follow the stories where they want to go and sometimes that means saying goodbye to characters we love. It has been a joy and a privilege to work with these phenomenally talented actresses.”
LINK: Ellen Pompeo Spilled Mad Tea About “Grey’s Anatomy” In A Fiery New Interview