Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo receives star on Walk of Fame after two decades on TV

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 29, 2025. While receiving the honor, she was joined by her husband Chris Ivery and two of her three kids, Stella and Eli.

People magazine reported that Pompeo gave a shoutout to both her kids in her speech:

"This doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen easily. It takes a village. I love you Stella. I love you Eli."

She also mentioned her 10-year-old daughter Sienna, saying:

"Everybody say Sienna because she’s not here!"

The actress thanked Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, who was present at the ceremony, for allowing her to handle work and her personal life. She mentioned how it is not very common for women to get the kind of support she had to balance their careers with motherhood in this industry.

For the unversed, Ellen Pompeo plays the protagonist named Dr. Meredith Grey in the medical drama, which premiered in March 2005 and is currently on season 21. Pompeo won a Screen Actors Guild award for her performance as Dr. Meredith.

Debbie Allen urged Ellen Pompeo to return to Grey's Anatomy full-time

At Ellen Pompeo's Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony, Debbie Allen gave a speech. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Allen teased the 55-year-old actress for starring in Good American Family and simultaneously urged her to feature in Grey's Anatomy in a bigger capacity.

"We let her out to go do that other show. Okay, Ms. Thing. Are you okay now? You did that. Now bring your b*tt back home."

In 2011, Debbie Allen appeared in the medical drama as Dr. Catherine Avery Fox, and she also serves as the show's director and executive producer. Meanwhile, Pompeo reduced her screen presence in this series significantly in the past three years as she featured in just eight episodes of season 19, four episodes of season 20, and seven episodes of season 21.

Also read: Grey’s Anatomy season 21 episode 15: Release date, time, where to watch, and what to expect

Ellen Pompeo on why she has continued to appear on Grey's Anatomy

Pompeo has been portraying Meredith Grey for 20 years, and it's only recently that she has started appearing as Kristine Barnett in Good American Family. The latter is Pompeo's first lead role in decades, and she does not plan to leave behind Meredith any time soon.

In an interview with EL PAÍS published on April 13, 2025, Pompeo shared the reason why she is not willing to exit Grey's Anatomy completely. She explained:

"The companies that own the show and stream the show make a lot of money from our images and our voices and our faces. If I were to walk away completely, everybody gets to make money from my hard work for 20 years and I wouldn’t make any money. To me, it doesn’t make any sense that everybody [else] gets to profit off of my hard work."

Pompeo also stated that a lot of fans are emotionally attached to this show. So, she wants to have "an attitude of gratitude" towards it. She further claimed that she is looking for roles that are creatively different from her character as Meredith.

Grey's Anatomy is available to stream on Hulu.

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