Shonda Rhimes confirmed that she is all powerful in Shondaland and holds the fate of her stars firmly in her hands when she confessed to giving one character the boot because the actor rubbed her the wrong way.
“Have you ever killed off a character because you didn’t like the actor? And extra bonus points for who it was,” Larry Wilmore asked the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” when she visited his Comedy Central show, warning the “How to Get Away With Murder” executive producer: “Don’t even think about lying.”
After taking a brief pause to gather her thoughts, Rhimes replied: “Yes … and I’m not naming names.”
Her candid response got fans’ brains spinning with attempts to guess which star’s fate was decided because of a personality clash.
The popular choice was Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), who was killed off “Grey’s” in a grisly tractor-trailer crash last season.
However, other possible characters who’ve met horrible fates in the Shondaland world are: Harrison Wright (Columbus Short), James Novalk (Dan Bucatinsky), Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
During the TCAs, Rhimes admitted that killing off McDreamy on “Grey’s” wasn’t an easy choice. “We had a lot of discussions about it,” she said. “It wasn’t easy or fun, it is never easy or fun. We’ve been working really hard for a long time together. We’re family. Those choices and those decisions are never easy for any of us.”
Meanwhile, she has also confirmed that “Scandal” actor Short’s struggle with drugs and subsequent legal issues led to the demise of his TV career.
“The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore” airs at 11:35 p.m. ET on Comedy Central.