An angry Ellen Pompeo is like a ticking time bomb in a chest cavity: You never know when it’s going to go off.
The Grey’s Anatomy star lashed out at Netflix after the streamer posted a meme on TikTok that featured her Grey’s character Meredith Grey with a stern look on her face, accompanied by the caption: “Me when there’s a [bomb] in the chest cavity.” (That’s a reference to a famous Season 2 episode that found the Grey’s docs treating a patient with a bomb lodged in his chest.) Pompeo fired back on Instagram, reposting the meme and adding her own caption: “Also me when [Netflix] doesn’t pay actors residuals.”
Pompeo’s comments refer to the heated negotiations surrounding the current SAG-AFTRA strike, with actors on Netflix shows claiming that they’re paid mere pennies in residuals, even if their show was a hit. (Some cast members of Orange Is the New Black voiced those complaints in a recent New Yorker story.) Grey’s Anatomy does stream on Netflix as well, but it should be noted: The streamer wouldn’t be paying those actors residuals; those would come from the show’s producers like ABC Studios, who license Grey’s to Netflix.
SAG-AFTRA officially went on strike on July 13, seeking an increase in streaming residuals along with other issues like AI and revenue sharing. They join writers’ guild the WGA, who went on strike back on May 1 after stalling in negotiations with Hollywood producer union AMPTP over many of the same issues. The strikes are already affecting Grey’s Anatomy fans: The popular drama is nowhere to be found on ABC’s fall schedule, which is dominated by reality TV and game shows. Grey’s is slated for midseason (for now), but the longer the strikes continue, the fewer episodes we’ll likely see in Season 20… whenever we see it.