Ellen Pompeo Calls Out ‘Bachelor’ Creator Mike Fleiss Over Kelly Ripa Dig

Ellen Pompeo, star of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, doubled down today on her lambasting of Mike Fleiss, creator and EP of ABC’s The Bachelor, and his show, responding to a commenter on her Twitter page that she “had to call it out.”

That response specifically addressed the show’s racial makeup (on an earlier tweet, Pompeo had included the hashtag #bachelorsoooowhite), but Pompeo’s initial task-taking was in reaction to Fleiss’ seeming attempt to quiet Kelly Ripa after the talk show host said The Bachelor “disgusts” her.

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See the tweets below.

On Tuesday’s episode of the ABC-owned Live With Kelly and Ryan, Ripa, discussing The Bachelor and the just-returned The Bachelorette with her co-host Ryan Seacrest, said, “You guys, you know how I feel about the show. It disgusts me. I can’t stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion.” She added, “You know how I feel, ladies – we are too special to be arguing over a guy.” Acknowledging the Bachelor fans in her audience, Ripa said, “Having said that, all of you women watch that gross, gross show.”

That day, Fleiss, who uses the Twitter name @fleissmeister, tweeted, “Easy, @KellyRipa … #TheBachelor franchise pays your salary!” (Franchise host Chris Harrison tweeted a snarky, “Look out #BachelorNation ⁦@KellyRipa⁩ is coming after you and your “disgusting” Monday night habit.”

Pompeo then jumped to Ripa’s defense, tweeting, “Okay @fleissmeister… that’s some handle bro! Your show does NOT pay @KellyRipa salary. Also we don’t attack successful women on our network and men certainly cannot take credit for their success. Don’t get me started on your show cuz I’m a savage…. #bachelorsoooowhite.”

When one of Pompeo’s Twitter followers welcomed the Grey’s Anatomy star back to social media, Pompeo responded, “Took a break but had to jump back in the ring for my girl.”

Today, when another Pompeo follower, a black woman, asked “Is The Bachelor the representation [black women] want tho?”, Pompeo responded, “NOT AT ALL!!! You’re so right….but it’s still true so I had to call it out.”

Ripa has not joined in the Twitter tussle, but appeared to joke about it on Thursday’s Live With Kelly and Ryan, when Bachelorette Hannah Brown visited as a guest. Ripa said to Brown, “If you blink twice, I will get you out of here.”

Here is the series of tweets so far:

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