Everything is not coming up roses for Patrick Dempsey! These are some photos of Patrick at the pre-premiere (??) of WINNING: The Racing Life of Paul Newman a few days ago. If Patrick looks super-shady to you, that’s because he really does look squirrelly and weird in these photos, like he stepped out of an intense bender from 1988. Patrick is probably living it up more than usual these days – in January, we heard that Patrick and his wife Jillian Fink were divorcing after 15 years (and long-standing rumors of marriage trouble and Patrick’s infidelities). And now it looks like Patrick’s career is going to hell too. Page Six says Patrick is on the way out of Grey’s Anatomy because of his “diva” behavior. Interesting.
Patrick Dempsey’s time on “Grey’s Anatomy” could soon be up, with sources telling us his “diva” behavior on the set of the ABC show has infuriated creator Shonda Rhimes. Dempsey, who has played Dr. Derek Shepherd since the series began in 2005, was last November written out of the show, explained by his character getting a job in DC. Dempsey has since only returned for fleeting appearances, even though he signed a new two-year deal in January 2014.
A show source said, “Patrick has been acting like a diva and has clashed with Shonda. She suspended him for a while, and the word on set is that he isn’t coming back full time…Given all the past problems with Katherine Heigl and Isaiah Washington, there is little tolerance on the show for troublesome talent.”
After Dempsey’s character was sent to DC, Rhimes told Entertainment Weekly in January, “It’s highly possible that we might not see Derek for a while ... There will be a time when you see him again, yes, but it’s probable that you won’t see Derek for awhile.”
The show is nearing the end of Season 11. But Dempsey, who is contracted through the end of Season 12 and 2015, has talked about leaving. The actor — who is in the midst of a divorce with his wife, Jillian Fink — said in November the medical drama “has been a blessing for me and has allowed me to do all this. But it’s transitional for me right now. I’m looking forward to the next thing, creatively.” He said his exit from “Grey’s” would happen “very soon,” but didn’t say when.
Our source added that his comments “didn’t help” Dempsey’s frosty relationship with Rhimes. A rep for Dempsey said, “I can confirm that this story is not true,” and a rep for the show didn’t return calls and e-mails.
It sounds more like Dempsey and Shonda Rhimes were simply sick of each other, that Patrick was looking for a way out of his contract and that Rhimes was trying to push him out as well. But sure, maybe he’s a diva. I doubt his transgressions were as awful as Katherine Heigl’s, but after 11 seasons, sure, people get sick of working with the same old people. What’s funny to me is that Shonda Rhimes gave Patrick Dempsey his legitimate second-act career. And if he thinks he’s going to go on to bigger and better things post-Grey’s Anatomy, he’s sorely mistaken.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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