Ellen Pompeo’s fight for fair pay on “Grey’s Anatomy” — and her willingness to talk about the issue both publicly and candidly — has been helping push forward the conversation about sexism and the pay gap in Hollywood. Now the highest-paid actress on a primetime drama is bringing another much needed conversation in the entertainment industry to the forefront. While participating in a roundtable hosted by Net-A-Porter, Pompeo criticized Hollywood — and the producers of the event — for not hiring a racially inclusive production team.
“This day has been incredible, and there’s a ton of women in the room,” said Pompeo, while sitting beside Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”), Gabrielle Union (“Being Mary Jane”), and Emma Roberts (“American Horror Story”). She continued, “But I don’t see enough color. And I didn’t see enough color when I walked in the room today.” Pompeo recalled meeting with a director for an endorsement deal she was signing onto. She specified that the project should be racially inclusive.
“I think it’s up to all productions to make sure that your crew looks like the world that you see,” the Golden Globe-nominated actress emphasized. “As Caucasian people, it’s our job. It’s our task, it’s our responsibility to make sure that we speak up in every single room that we walk into, that this is not okay, and that we can all do better. It’s our job because we’ve created the problem.”
Pompeo is a producer on”Grey’s” and a co-exec producer on ABC firefighter drama “Station 19,” which kicked off its second season last month. Both series feature inclusive casts and teams behind the scenes, and we’re betting Pompeo is a proponent of inclusion riders. Brought into mainstream consciousness thanks to Frances McDormand’s Oscar speech this year, the contract clause ensures that projects have diverse casts and crews . Brie Larson, Michael B. Jordan, and Paul Feig are among those who have adopted the rider.
It should be noted that Rodriguez, Union, and Roberts have all called out sexism in the industry, and the former two have been very outspoken about Hollywood’s lack of racial inclusivity.
Check out the video of Pompeo drawing attention to Net-A-Porter’s set — and the wider problem — below.
ellen pompeo SNAPPED pic.twitter.com/CUjIchreUW
— izabelle (@meredithsgrwy) November 16, 2018