Ellen Pompeo Reveals She and Patrick Dempsey Haven't Spoken Since 'Grey's Anatomy' Exit

Patrick Dempsey starred on Grey's Anatomy for ten years before his character, Derek Shepherd, was killed off in Season 11, meaning the actor spent a major amount of time with his co-stars during his time on the ABC medical drama.

Unfortunately for fans, that time has not extended to Dempsey's life after Grey's, with Ellen Pompeo revealing on Jada Pinkett Smith's Facebook Watch talk show, Red Table Talk, that she hasn't spoken since Dempsey's exit from the show.

Pompeo was prompted to share the status of her relationship with Dempsey after picking a question out of a bowl, with her question reading, "Are you and Patrick Dempsey still friends?"

"We haven't spoken since he's left the show," the actress said in response. "I have no hard feelings toward him. He's a wonderful actor, and we made the best TV you can make together. That's a talented man right there. He did 11 amazing years."

The actress further explained, "Typically, when people leave the show, they need to sort of re-find themselves, who they are without the show, because the show takes up so much of your life. You need that time to like figure out who you are without the show. So, we have not spoken, but I will always have a place in my heart for Patrick."

Pompeo previously opened up about Dempsey's presence on the hit show, saying in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the actor still being on set was a factor in her own contract negotiations.

"For me, Patrick leaving the show was a defining moment, deal-wise," she said. "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."

Fans were devastated after Derek was killed in Season 11, but showrunner Shonda Rhimes explained during the TCA press tour in 2015 that she felt the character had to die when Dempsey left the show in order to properly preserve Derek's love story with Meredith.

"Either Derek was going to walk out on Meredith, and leave her high and dry, and what was that going to mean?" Rhimes reflected, via E! News. "That was going to suggest that the love was not true, the thing we had said for 11 years was a lie and McDreamy wasn't McDreamy. For me, that was untenable."

Photo Credit: ABC