Grey's Anatomy alum Ellen Pompeo has gone viral for a savage dig at Patrick Dempsey, who played her love interest on the hit hospital series.

Pompeo starred as Dr. Meredith Grey - the central protagonist - for the first 19 seasons starting in 2005, before leaving the show as a regular in 2023.

She renegotiated her salary in 2018 and got her pay raised to $20 million a year, only to be met with a furious fan backlash when the increased amount went public.

Now, in a new interview, the 55-year-old has taken a swipe at Dempsey while discussing the fact he earned more than she did when they were first cast.

'He had done 13 pilots before me. Nothing personal to him, just in general, only a man can have 13 failed TV pilots and their quote keeps going up, right?' she sneered.

However she then quickly backpedaled, saying: 'But in all fairness, his quote was what it was. He was a bigger star than I was at that point. No one knew who I was. Everybody knew who he was, so he did deserve that money,' on Call Her Daddy.

'I’m not saying he didn’t deserve that money. It’s just, being that I was the namesake of the show, I deserved the same and that was harder to get,' she insisted. 

'I wasn’t salty about him getting what he got. I was salty that they didn’t value me as much as they valued him,' Pompeo explained.

'I see exactly how much Grey’s Anatomy makes for ABC/Disney. I get to see the number. It’s my face, it’s my voice. I’ve done so much work promoting the show all over the world for the past 20 years. I am the Disney princess of that franchise.'

As the jab at Dempsey went viral online, Pompeo came in for fierce criticism on X, formerly Twitter, where one user lamented that 'she really turned bitter' and another sighed that she was 'another martyr…'

'She was no one before this show and this show made her rich and famous. The other actors that left wanted a challenge but she went for financial security so she hit the jackpot. To now try and diss Patrick was really not needed,' groused another.

'She was and still is a B-list actor, who happened upon a show that became a big hit for childless women in their 30s. No one watched the show for her, they watched it for the fan service shirtless scenes with the male actors,' argued yet another.

One X user chortled that 'he's still a celebrity and she's still a nobody!' while another groaned in exasperation: 'God, make it end.'

'She's just a hater,' another observer said dismissively. 'Patrick Dempswy has been around d since the 80s. He's Loverboy! And while she may be the title character, HE was the reason people watched the show. I've never seen one episode, but I know who McDreamy is. I didn't even know her character was named Grey.'

Still another wrote: 'He was a bigger star, MUCH bigger, but I deserved equal money. What’s next? Extras demanding the same money as the stars of TV, and film?'

In her latest interview, Pompeo noted how hard she had to work for the pay raise which saw her become one of the highest paid actresses on TV.

Looking back at the moment when the news broke and the lack of congratulations she received from her peers, the actress recalled how her manager 'said something to me that literally hit me like a brick.'

'He said, "Are you ready to be unpopular? I just don't want you to think that everyone is going to go in and cheer for you and clap for you because there are going to be a lot of people that aren't happy for you,"' Pompeo said.

Pompeo admitted that the thought hadn't occurred to her at the time, and that she was thankful for the warning because it turned out to be true.

She added: 'Generally, it is hard for people to celebrate other people if they have something the resembles something that they want.'

When host Alex Cooper pointed out that men never face the same scrutiny, Pompeo agreed: 'It’s a lot, and it’s patriarchy and it’s misogyny…

'Sports players are celebrated for their contracts. Not saying they’re not worth it, but I mean, it’s OK for them to celebrate it.'

Pompeo noted that she didn't ever want something 'I don't deserve... that I haven't worked for.'

The Daredevil star highlighted the fact she had taken time to research 'exactly how much' ABC was making profit from Grey's.  

She then noted: 'It’s my face, it’s my voice. I’ve done so much work promoting the show all over the world for the past 20 years. 

'I am the Disney princess of that franchise, so I have the data to back up. I know the show has generated this much money; I definitely deserve a percentage of that.'

The actress then spoke about the reality of returning to set after the news was out in the world.

'I was ready for it because of his comment, but what I saw was the people who didn't say anything,' she recalled. 

'I got a lot of emails that day when that story came out from amazing people, congratulating me.'

The Old School star continued: 'Then the ones who are quiet you know who don’t say anything, and you see it, and you’re like. "OK." I don’t know what to say, don’t hate the player, hate the game.'

It was revealed in 2018 that Pompeo had negotiated a salary of as much as $20 million per year, including signing bonus, producing fees, ownership in the show and other extras.'

She also earns an undisclosed sum for producing the Grey's spinoff, Station 19.

Pompeo's latest role is in Hulu's new limited series, Good American Family, which is set to come out March 19.

She will portray Kristine Barnett, the adopted mother of Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian adoptee accused of faking her age.