It’s a beautiful day to spill Grey’s Anatomy tea.
In an excerpt from Lynette Rice‘s new book, How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy—which was first obtained by The Hollywood Reporter—it was revealed that there wasn’t just drama in the scripts of the ABC medical show. Specifically, through interviews conducted with Grey’s stars and producers, the origin story behind Patrick Dempsey‘s exit was discussed, and, frankly, it left us needing a crash cart.
According to James D. Parriott, a former executive producer for Grey’s, things were very tense between Dempsey and series creator Shonda Rhimes by season 11. “Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes,” Parriott shared in the book. “There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him.”
As Parriott continued, he described Dempsey as having a “hold on the set,” since “he knew he could stop production and scare people.” Sounds like a less than McDreamy experience!