This year, we should all be thankful for the bullshit-cutting icon that is Ellen Pompeo.
The Grey’s Anatomy star is being applauded for remarks she made during a taped roundtable discussion for Porter magazine’s annual “Women in Television” issue, where she eloquently called out the lack of diversity on the very set she was on.
Related: Michelle Obama Talks Lack Of Diversity In Politics With Shonda Rhimes
In the middle of a rousing discussion on workplace diversity and pay equality with Gabrielle Union, Gina Rodriguez, and Emma Roberts, the 49-year-old actress said:
“This day has been incredible, and there’s a ton of women in the room. But, I don’t see enough color. And I didn’t see enough color when I walked in the room today.”
Damn! Not only did Meredith Grey go there, she rented an Airbnb and stayed there for a week.
ellen pompeo SNAPPED pic.twitter.com/CUjIchreUW
— iza (@LlTTLEWOMENS) November 16, 2018
After making Porter feel like complicit d-bags, Pompeo recalled recently telling a director that she wants every production crew she works with to “look like the world that I walk around in every day,” adding:
“I think it’s up to all productions to make sure that your crew looks like the world we see… As caucasian people, it’s our job, it’s our task, it’s our responsibility to make sure we speak up in every single room we walk into. It’s our job because we created the problem.”
Needless to say, Twitter was all about Pompeo’s wise words, with many calling her comments the perfect example of how one can use their privilege as an ally and speak up for those who are tired of speaking up for themselves:
I love Ellen Pompeo so much. She normalizes the idea of diversity for other white people who don’t understand it. Instead of acting like she should be praised for it, she recognizes that it is NORMAL to want and have diversity and representation. https://t.co/hMVEa1D5Qg
— sai (@Saisailu97) November 20, 2018
Ellen Pompeo can bring the greens to thanksgiving.
— Natasha Rothwell (@natasharothwell) November 20, 2018
They thought Ellen Pompeo was just gonna sit there and look pretty ???? the woman has been working w/ Shonda for 16 years and she has birracial kids!!!! so great that it wasn't Gabrielle who had to say what needed To be said
— rip cruel summer, hello august (@CarineK) November 19, 2018
Ellen Pompeo to Porter’s lack of inclusive staff on set: pic.twitter.com/G4qh13fioz
— Rebecca Theodore-Vachon (@FilmFatale_NYC) November 19, 2018
Case in point, Rodriguez and Union. While both actresses certainly had a lot to say about the pay disparity between white women and women of color, they agreed it was “terrifying” to have to fight extra hard in negotiations just to prove they’re worth the same as their white peers — when, really, they just want to be appreciative of the work they get.
Based on their reactions to Pompeo’s comments, it’s safe to say both were appreciative that their good white sis took on *some* of the emotional labor for them this time around:
Gina Rodriguez and Gabrielle Union's faces here when Ellen Pompeo names a lack of diversity in the room is just giving me life pic.twitter.com/fYomEkRcEk
— your Jamaican grandfather (@gordoni_) November 20, 2018
Gabby and Gina!
— marc ???????? (@Iauradernn) November 19, 2018
Roberts didn’t go unnoticed either, as viewers applauded the Scream Queens star for… well, listening:
What I thought was interesting — and we’ll likely never know for sure — but it looked like, as Ellen Pompeo was speaking, Emma Roberts was looking at the crew and creative team like “oh, shit, I didn’t even notice.” It’s damning in a different way and underscores Ellen’s point. https://t.co/G9nq8qBhuL
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) November 20, 2018
The whole discussion was very refreshing and, we hope, signifies the dawn of a bright future for women of all colors in Hollywood. Watch the full roundtable (below).
[Image via NET-A-PORTER/YouTube.]
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