Debbie Allen urges co-star Ellen Pompeo to return to Grey’s Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy actor Debbie Allen has urged her co-star Ellen Pompeo to return to the much-loved medical drama.

Pompeo starred as the show’s titular character, Meredith Grey, from its launch in 2005 until she left the full-time cast in 2022, but still provides voiceovers for the show.

After stepping down from her onscreen appearances in Grey’s Anatomy, she starred in the series Good American Family, playing a woman who adopts a child with dwarfism (Imogen Faith Reid).

But Allen, who has played Dr Catherine Fox on Grey’s since 2011, joked that the actor had starred in enough new programmes, stating: “Now bring your butt back home.”

Speaking at the actor’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Tuesday (29 April), Allen said: “We let her out to go do that other show,” she said. “OK, Ms Thing, Are you okay now? You did that.’

The actor told Pompeo: “Grey's Anatomy is strong because of you. We are strong because of you. I am standing here because of you. And certainly, Ms Shonda Rhimes. We love you.”

Despite leaving the main Grey’s cast, Pompeo has said she’ll never fully quit the programme and still participates in episodes, doing voice overs.

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The actor said in an interview with El País that it would “make no sense” for her to quit the show “emotionally or financially.”

“The show was streamed more than a billion times in 2024 – more than a billion times,” she told the publication, adding: “The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces.

“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.”

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Elsewhere in her Hollywood Walk of Fame speech, Allen praised Pompeo’s commitment to her work. “Number one on the call sheet is a big responsibility, and you take that responsibility so seriously,” she said.

“I don't know anybody else that comes to the set and makes sure everybody has what they need, and orders vegan food even though they want meat. Who we build extra time [for] because she always has ideas. She always has ideas about her character.”

She concluded the speech: “Congratulations, my dear friend. I love you.”