For Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey's exit from Grey's Anatomy was a turning point. The move, which happened in season 11, was a "defining moment, deal-wise," Pompeo said in The Hollywood Reporter.
"They could always use him as leverage against me —‘We don't need you; we have Patrick'—which they did for years. I don't know if they also did that to him, because he and I never discussed our deals. There were many times where I reached out about joining together to negotiate, but he was never interested in that," Pompeo told The Hollywood Reporter. "At one point, I asked for $5,000 more than him just on principle, because the show is Grey's Anatomy and I'm Meredith Grey. They wouldn't give it to me.