Ellen Pompeo calls out magazine for lack of 'color' during TV interview, and the internet is here for it: 'Have we invited her to Wakanda yet?'

Paulina Cachero

If you’re a woman of color, just know that Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo will always be “your person.”

During an on-camera interview with Porter magazine, published by fashion company Net-a-Porter, Pompeo did not hold back when she noticed a lack of racial diversity on set. “I didn’t see enough color when I walked in the room today,” she pointed out without hesitation.

For the magazine’s third annual “Women in Television” issue, Pompeo sat down with Being Mary Jane lead Gabrielle Union, Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez, and Scream Queens actress Emma Roberts for an on-camera interview to talk about the biggest issues for women in Hollywood including sexism, racism and the pay gap.

During the revealing 20-minute discussion titled the “The Big Television Debate,” Union and Pompeo discuss the lack of diversity in their children’s schools and in the industry when Pompeo turned the tables to point out the production’s own lack of racial diversity behind the camera.

Ellen Pompeo at the <em>Vanity Fair</em> Oscar Party in Beverly Hills on April 3. (Photo: Reuters/Danny Moloshok)
Ellen Pompeo at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills on April 3. (Photo: Reuters/Danny Moloshok)

“This day has been incredible,” Pompeo said about the Porter gathering. “There’s a ton of women in this room, but I don’t see enough color.”

The Grey’s Anatomy actress then went on to call out a director she was working with, advocating that throughout the project the “crew looks like the world that I walk around in today.”

“It’s our job, it’s our task, it’s our responsibility to make sure we speak up in every single room we walk into,” Pompeo added. “It’s our job because we created the problem.”

The clip of Pompeo raising her voice and Union’s appreciative reaction has gone viral, with users online praising Pompeo for being a model for white allies and how they can support people of color.

“She normalizes the idea of diversity for other white people who don’t understand it,” one Twitter user said. “Instead of acting like she should be praised for it, she recognizes that it is NORMAL to want and have diversity and representation.”

This wouldn’t be the first time TV’s “$20 million woman“ called out the racism and prejudice in media. Pompeo previously called out Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham for telling basketball stars Lebron James and Kevin Durant to “shut up and dribble” on her personal Twitter.

See all the best reactions to Pompeo’s unapologetic statement below: