Shonda Rhimes' speech at the unveiling of Ellen Pompeo's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

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https://www.maximotv.com Emmy and Golden Globe-winning American producer, director, screenwriter, and author Shonda Rhimes delivered a speech at the unveiling ceremony for Ellen Pompeo's Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 6533 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, USA.  This video is available for editorial use in all media and worldwide. To ensure compliance and proper licensing of this video, please contact us at https://www.maximotv.com. ©MaximoTV #maximotv  🇺🇸

Transcript

00:00Please welcome Shonda Rhimes!

00:15Hello, everybody. I'm a writer, so I've written it down.

00:21Early on, right after she was cast, Ellen and I had a lunch.

00:25And after that lunch, I went home and I literally wrote in my journal, I actually looked it up.

00:30This girl is a spitfire. She will lay you out with the truth up, down, and sideways.

00:35I was absolutely thrilled and a little bit terrified.

00:39Because it's rare to meet somebody like her. Very few people actually are who they present themselves to be.

00:45But Ellen is exactly who she says she is, and you're one of a kind.

00:49In so many ways, Ellen and I grew up together in this business.

00:53We started in TV together, we realized success together, we found our power as women in the industry together,

00:58and we built Meredith Grey together.

01:00I created Meredith Grey, but I want you to understand the importance of this.

01:03Ellen is Meredith Grey. And not just on the sound stage.

01:10That is because she's so good at playing her role.

01:12In her hands, Meredith embodies a kind of flawed, good, broken, brilliant person we all recognize in ourselves.

01:18So for season after season, fans around the world have adored Meredith.

01:22They've spent Thursday nights with Meredith. They've wept, laughed, and loved with Meredith.

01:25And that means Meredith Grey is who the world sees when they see Ellen's face.

01:29And Ellen wears Meredith Grey quite well.

01:31But for all the Meredith you see, for those of us who have the honor of knowing her, the person we see is Ellen.

01:37And that is the most important role she can play.

01:40She's at her best when she's simply herself.

01:43She's fierce, and funny, and thoughtful, and caring.

01:46She's a businesswoman, a talented actor, a kind friend, and a great mom.

01:50And I don't care who you are, I don't know, even if you're the most powerful showrunner in TV,

01:54if you step out of line, Ellen will tell you about yourself.

01:57Up, down, and sideways.

02:00She lives and breathes in the truth, and it's come to be my favorite thing.

02:03That intelligence and that savvy and that fearlessness in her are why we are here today celebrating her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

02:10And people, she has earned this star.

02:13She has hard earned this star.

02:15And it's not just because she plays a character that we love.

02:20It is that in doing so, Ellen has worked tirelessly to build a career as a leading actress in a crazy global hit primetime TV drama

02:28that has been going for 21 seasons and counting.

02:31She leads the longest-running show in ABC history, and she leads the longest-running medical drama in all of TV.

02:38Those stats are absolutely not possible without her work and her presence and her drive.

02:45And because she was brave enough to know she deserved it, Ellen fought for and received her due,

02:50becoming the highest-paid actress in a television drama.

02:53She broke glass ceilings for actresses everywhere.

02:58She's a director, she's a producer, she's a feminist touchstone for women,

03:02and she's a role model for so many people pursuing their career in the scientists.

03:05Y'all, she is all the things.

03:07So, we're here celebrating her, and before we do, after all these years, I feel the need to turn the tables

03:13to lay Ellen Pompeo out with a little bit of truth to your face, up, down, and sideways.

03:18Don't be scared.

03:19Ellen, it's been a lifetime of honors getting to write for you and work with you.

03:23You have taught me important lessons that I didn't even know I needed to learn.

03:27I am grateful every day for the magic that you bring to Grey's Anatomy,

03:30and I know the TV landscape is forever changed for the better by having you shining in it.

03:35Girl, you are a living, breathing icon, and while you don't need a star to tell you that,

03:40it sure is nice to see the truth written in stone. Congratulations, my friend.

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