01of 09
Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey)
Liliane Lathan/ABC via Getty
After nearly two decades of heartbreak, laughter and a whole lot of medical emergencies, Ellen Pompeo is hanging up her white coat and stepping away fromGrey’s Anatomy.
The episode was the first since the series' winter hiatus. Before the break, Meredith’s storyline ended with her character’s decision to leave Seattle for New England, where she accepted a position with the Catherine Fox Foundation to research Alzheimer’s disease.
Ahead of the episode, Pompeo had alreadystepped back from the seriesto pursue outside projects, includingOrphan.
OnThe Drew Barrymore Showin December 2022, Pompeo opened up about her reduced role.
“I feel super happy, but listen the show has been incredible to me and I’ve loved a lot of the experience,” she shared. “Listen it’s just I gotta mix it up a little bit. I’m 53, my brain is like scrambled eggs … I gotta do something new or I’m literally gonna turn into, like, [someone who] can’t do theNew York Timescrossword puzzle every single day.”
Pompeo’s official exit came after years of hinting that the show, or at least her time on it, was coming to an end.
In 2018, she toldEntertainment Weeklythat she was looking for “a change.”
“I’m clearly not prepared right now to make any formal announcement about what my future is on the show, but I am really feeling like we have told the majority of the stories that we can tell,” Pompeo said.
In September 2021, she shined some light onto why she’s stuck it out for so long despite her inclination to see what else is out there.
“It’s not because I haven’t been trying,” she toldEntertainment Tonightof leaving Meredith behind. “I have strong relationships at the network [ABC] and they have been very, very good to me, and have incentivized me to stay.”
02of 09
Justin Chambers (Dr. Alex Karev)
Justin Chambers onGrey’s Anatomy.Richard Cartwright/Walt Disney Television via Getty
After starring as Dr. Alex Karev for 16 seasons, ABC confirmed to PEOPLE on Jan. 10, 2020, thatChambers had left the beloved medical drama.
He added, “As I move on fromGrey’s Anatomy, I want to thank the ABC family, Shonda Rimes, original cast membersEllen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens, and the rest of the amazing cast and crew, both past and present, and, of course, the fans for an extraordinary ride.”
Throughout the years, fans grew to love Alex Karev — an egotistical medical intern who blossomed into a nurturing pediatric surgeon throughout the seasons. In his penultimate season, Karev was fired for his involvement in the insurance fraud scandal and was hired Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Pacific Northwest General Hospital.
Because Chambers' last episode aired on Nov. 14, 2019 — he was absent from the midseason finale and it was explained that he was taking care of his ailing mother — the character did not get a send-off episode.
After months of wondering, it was later revealed that the reason Karev left Seattle — and his wife Jo (Camilla Luddington) — wasto move to Kansasto be with his ex-wife, Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and their 5-year-old twins.
03of 09
Jessica Capshaw (Dr. Arizona Robbins) & Sarah Drew (Dr. April Kepner)
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty
When the actresses confirmed on Twitter in March 2018 thatneither would be returningfor season 15,Deadline—the first to report the news — implied that starEllen Pompeo’s negotiation for a $20 million salary led to Drew and Capshaw being removed. “This is above my pay grade,” PompeoclarifiedonTwitter, adding that the situation shouldn’t be made to “pit women against each other.”
“My nine years on Grey’s Anatomy has forever shaped and changed me. I grew as an actor and as a human. I developedbeautiful life long friendships. I found my voice and learned how to collaborate creatively with our incredibly talented group of writers and with our leadership,” Drew wrote in a tribute post shared to Instagram. “Our writers are simply extraordinary.”
“I was able to grow my family and have my two beautiful children while working in an environment that took great care of me thanks to Shonda Rhimes and the precedent she set. And I got to be a part of a show that continues to push boundaries, inspire people to pursue their dreams, find strength in hardship, and fight for what they believe in,” she concluded. “What an honor and a privilege to have had the chance to be a part of this extraordinary family.”
Capshaw shared her own tribute on social media, specifically highlighting the significance of her character, Arizona Robbins.
“For the past 10 years, I have had the rare privilege of not only playing Arizona Robbins, but also being madly in love with playing her. Arizona Robbins is kind, intelligent, funny, insightful, bold, playful, fierce and really good at her job,” Capshawtweeted.
“She was one of the first members of the LGBTQ community to be represented in a series regular role on network television. Her impact on the world is permanent and forever. Forever,” the star said of her fan-favorite character.
04of 09Sara Ramirez (Dr. Callie Torres)Rhimesadmitted she felt surprised afterRamirezannounced their departureon social media in May 2016. “I found out maybe three days before you guys found out,'” the producersaidat Vulture Festival in New York City that year. “This departure, indeed, was different from all the others. It wasn’t a big, planned thing. I had a different plan going and then Sara came and said, ‘I really need to take a break.’ "
04of 09
Sara Ramirez (Dr. Callie Torres)
Rhimesadmitted she felt surprised afterRamirezannounced their departureon social media in May 2016. “I found out maybe three days before you guys found out,'” the producersaidat Vulture Festival in New York City that year. “This departure, indeed, was different from all the others. It wasn’t a big, planned thing. I had a different plan going and then Sara came and said, ‘I really need to take a break.’ "
05of 09Patrick Dempsey (Dr. Derek Shepherd)McDreamy’sdeath in a car accidentshocked fans of the show — unless they got their hands on an early issue ofEntertainment Weekly. Hours before his final episode aired in April 2015,EWsubscribers received the week’s issue — containing an exit interview withDempsey— earlier than planned. Fans erupted overthe spoileron social media, and put together anonline petition,which garnered 100,000 signatures, to bring back his character.“It was clear we were both ready. But we kept it very quiet,” Dempsey revealed to PEOPLE of his and Rhimes' decision to let the actor go, in 2016. With no table reads, the actor said no one knew how his character would perish. “I knew he was going to be gone, but I didn’t know how she was going to handle it. Shonda just said, ‘I’m going to do it in a really good way,’ and she did her thing.”
05of 09
Patrick Dempsey (Dr. Derek Shepherd)
McDreamy’sdeath in a car accidentshocked fans of the show — unless they got their hands on an early issue ofEntertainment Weekly. Hours before his final episode aired in April 2015,EWsubscribers received the week’s issue — containing an exit interview withDempsey— earlier than planned. Fans erupted overthe spoileron social media, and put together anonline petition,which garnered 100,000 signatures, to bring back his character.
“It was clear we were both ready. But we kept it very quiet,” Dempsey revealed to PEOPLE of his and Rhimes' decision to let the actor go, in 2016. With no table reads, the actor said no one knew how his character would perish. “I knew he was going to be gone, but I didn’t know how she was going to handle it. Shonda just said, ‘I’m going to do it in a really good way,’ and she did her thing.”
06of 09
Eric Dane (Dr. Mark Sloan)
Randy Holmes/Walt Disney Television via Getty
Though viewers held out hope that Dr. Mark Sloan, aka McStreamy, would survive the injuries he endured from the fatal plane crash that killed his love interest, Dr. Lexie Grey, in season eight, Dr. Sloan died early on in season nine after his best friend Derek Shepherd and Callie Torres — the mother of his daughter —decided to take him off of life support.
While that was the reason for his character’s departure onscreen, behind the scenes, Dane reportedly left after being offered a role on the series,The Last Ship —which he starred on until 2018 when the show ended.
“Grey’s Anatomyis a world — it’s not about any one individual actor, and the storylines were sort of … you know, heading in different directions,” Dane toldEntertainment Weeklyin 2013. “So it was an opportunity for me to go, and I was interested in something different. I loved doingGrey’s Anatomy. I would have done it until the final episode, but this was something I couldn’t pass up.”
Fans were in for a reunion made in heaven, literally, when Dane, Dempsey and T.R. Knight made a guest appearances during season 17.
07of 09
Katherine Heigl (Dr. Izzie Stevens)
“I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination,” Heiglexplainedin June 2008 of whyshe decided to withdraw her name from consideration. Two years after shading the creative team, and numerous leaves of absence from the show, the27 Dressesstar exited for good when her character, Izzie, moved out of Seattle.
“I went in ‘cause I was really embarrassed,” she told Stern. “So I went in to Shonda and said, ‘I’m so sorry. That wasn’t cool. I should not have said that’ … I shouldn’t have said anything publicly, but at the time, I didn’t think anybody would notice. I didn’t know that journalists would see who submitted and who didn’t. I just quietly didn’t submit and then it became a story and then I felt I was obligated to make my statement and ‘shut up, Katie.’ "
Two years earlier, in 2014,Rhimes seemingly addressed Heigl’s exit and controversy surrounding the cast of the medical drama, in an interview withTheHollywood Reporter. “I don’t put up with bulls— or nasty people. I don’t have time for it,” she said of what she called her “no a-holes policy.”
08of 09T.R. Knight (Dr. George O’Malley)Eric McCandless/ABC/Getty ImagesThe medical drama launchedKnight’s career, but in July 2009 he left due to an ongoing “breakdown of communication” with Shonda Rhimes. After getting only 48 minutes of airtime (versus the 114 minutes Sandra Oh’s character received) in the first nine episodes of season 5, heasked to go. “My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given,” Knight toldEntertainment Weeklyof his character at the time. In February 2017, though, hereturend to Shondalandin the season 2 premiere ofThe Catch,and in December 2020,he appeared in an episodeofGrey’sduring one of Meredith’s dream sequences.
08of 09
T.R. Knight (Dr. George O’Malley)
Eric McCandless/ABC/Getty Images
The medical drama launchedKnight’s career, but in July 2009 he left due to an ongoing “breakdown of communication” with Shonda Rhimes. After getting only 48 minutes of airtime (versus the 114 minutes Sandra Oh’s character received) in the first nine episodes of season 5, heasked to go. “My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given,” Knight toldEntertainment Weeklyof his character at the time. In February 2017, though, hereturend to Shondalandin the season 2 premiere ofThe Catch,and in December 2020,he appeared in an episodeofGrey’sduring one of Meredith’s dream sequences.
09of 09Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke)Ron Tom/ABC/Getty ImagesThe actorused a gay slurto refer to costar T.R. Knight during an on-set spat in the fall of 2006, prompting Knight to come out as gay. Though Washingtonapologized, he used the term again in January 2007 to deny the incident to reporters at theGolden Globes. In June, after his character broke off his engagement to Dr. Christina Yang (Sandra Oh) and didn’t appear in the season 3 finale, ABCconfirmedthatWashingtonwouldn’t return to the series.In 2014, Washingtonreturned following Oh’s decision to leave the show. The reason for his comeback, according toGrey’s Anatomycreator Shonda Rhimes, had to do with closure for the actors’ characters.“I feel like there have been a lot of people that have been like, ‘How can you do this?’ And I feel very strongly and fully believe in people’s ability to grow and change and learn from their mistakes and when they know better, to do better,“Rhimes toldEntertainment Weekly. “If people don’t think that, over the course of seven years, it’s possible for a human being to change, then there really is no future for the human race at all.”
09of 09
Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke)
Ron Tom/ABC/Getty Images
The actorused a gay slurto refer to costar T.R. Knight during an on-set spat in the fall of 2006, prompting Knight to come out as gay. Though Washingtonapologized, he used the term again in January 2007 to deny the incident to reporters at theGolden Globes. In June, after his character broke off his engagement to Dr. Christina Yang (Sandra Oh) and didn’t appear in the season 3 finale, ABCconfirmedthatWashingtonwouldn’t return to the series.
In 2014, Washingtonreturned following Oh’s decision to leave the show. The reason for his comeback, according toGrey’s Anatomycreator Shonda Rhimes, had to do with closure for the actors' characters.
“I feel like there have been a lot of people that have been like, ‘How can you do this?’ And I feel very strongly and fully believe in people’s ability to grow and change and learn from their mistakes and when they know better, to do better,“Rhimes toldEntertainment Weekly. “If people don’t think that, over the course of seven years, it’s possible for a human being to change, then there really is no future for the human race at all.”
source: people.com
