ABC/DANNY FELD

Mission accomplished? Grey's Anatomy is still one of ABC's top shows in terms of ratings and shows no signs of slowing down. Pompeo said Dempsey was getting paid double what she was because he had a "television quote" and she had never done TV.

"I didn't even realize until we were renegotiating season 3. No one was offering that up," she said. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pompeo revealed she had once asked for $5,000 more than Dempsey "just on principle."

"They wouldn't give it to me," she told THR. "And I could have walked away, so why didn't I? It's my show; I'm the number one. I'm sure I felt what a lot of these other actresses feel: Why should I walk away from a great part because of a guy? You feel conflicted but then you figure, ‘I'm not going to let a guy drive me out of my own house.'"

Pompeo said she was encouraged to speak up and be prepared to walk away if necessary. "You can know your worth, but if they don't know it, you can't cry," she said in Variety.