Grey’s Anatomy Producer Accuses Patrick Dempsey of ‘Terrorizing the Set’ Before He Got Killed Off Series

Grey’s Anatomy producer James D. Parriott has shed some light on Patrick Dempsey’s shocking exit from the hit series.

Parriott, who was interviewed for Lynette Rice’s unauthorized tell-all on the series, has accused Dempsey, who portrayed Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepard, of being less dreamy than expected.

“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,” Parriott is quoted saying in a recently released excerpt of How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy. “He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people.”

“”The network and studio came down and we had sessions with them. I think he was just done with the show,” he continued. “He didn’t like the inconvenience of coming in every day and working. He and Shonda [Rhimes] were at each other’s throats.”

Producer Jeannine Renshaw also opened up about Dempsey’s behavior

on set, sharing that his complaints were the “final straw” for series creator Shonda Rhimes.

“A lot of the complaining … I think Shonda finally witnessed it herself, and that was the final straw,” Renshaw said. “Shonda had to say to the network, ‘If he doesn’t go, I go.’ Nobody wanted him to leave, because he was the show. Him and Ellen [Pompeo]. Patrick is a sweetheart. It messes you up, this business.”

The upcoming book also includes quotes from Dempsey, who expressed frustration about the series’ demanding schedule and how it impacted his personal life.

“It’s ten months, fifteen hours a day. You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, ‘What are you doing on Monday?’ And you go, ‘I don’t know,’ because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for eleven years is challenging,” he said. “But you have to be grateful, because you’re well compensated, so you can’t really complain because you don’t really have a right. You don’t have control over your schedule. So, you have to just be flexible.”

Despite their undeniable on-screen chemistry as Meredith and Derek, Pompeo allegedly had her own issues with Dempsey, which largely stemmed from his tendency to complain.

“There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much. She was very big on having things be

fair,” Renshaw said. “She just didn’t like that Patrick would complain that ‘I’m here too late’ or ‘I’ve been here too long’ when she had twice as many scenes in the episode as he did.”

Dempsey was eventually killed off the series toward the end of Season 11, but he later came back in Season 17 through Meredith’s several coronavirus-induced dreams.