Ellen Pompeo has signed a new contract with ABC for two more years of Grey's Anatomy.
The deal has the network paying Pompeo upwards of $550,000 per episode. According to Deadline, it also gives her a producing role on the hit medical drama and co-executive producer role in the upcoming Grey's spinoff.
Pompeo has become the highest paid woman on television. She destroyed the glass ceiling.
Grey's Anatomy is in its 14th season and still reigns supreme in primetime television. On top of new episodes, new fans begin their Grey's journey every day on Netflix. For some, how hot Eric Dane gets is still unimaginable and the death of Derick is still a spoiler alert.
While show creator Shonda Rhimes left ABC for Netflix in the fall, Pompeo credits the return of showrunner Krista Vernoff as part of this season's success.
“I was really excited of having a whole completely new fresh voice to write the show,” Pompeo said. “The writing is a lot smarter, and I love what she’s doing. Everybody does actually, the actors are so happy, they’re so energized.”
And, in an interview with Hollywood Reporter, it was Rhimes that helped Pompeo with this deal.
"What happened is that I went to Shonda and I said, 'If you're moving on to Netflix and you want the show to go down, I'm cool with that. But if you want it to continue, I need to be incentivized. I need to feel empowered and to feel ownership of this show.' And she was like, 'I absolutely want to keep the show going. It's the mothership, so let's find a way to make you happy. What do you want?'"
And that's how women make their mark in history.