Ellen Pompeo Showed Everyone How to Be an Ally & the Internet Loved It

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During a roundtable discussion for Porter Magazine's Women in Television issue, Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo took the time to call out the lack of diversity in the fashion publication's production team.

\u201cellen pompeo SNAPPED\u201d
— iza (@iza) 1542383643

"This day has been incredible, and there’s a ton of women in the room, but I don’t see enough color," Pompeo (who was joined in the roundtable by Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez, Being Mary Jane's Gabrielle Union, and American Horror Story's Emma Roberts) said, noting the lack of women of color in the room during filming. "And I didn’t see enough color when I walked in the room today."

She continued:

"As caucasian people, 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. It’s our job because we created the problem."

Pompeo's act of allyship was very much appreciated by activists and audiences, and the internet took notice:

\u201cGina Rodriguez and Gabrielle Union's faces here when Ellen Pompeo names a lack of diversity in the room is just giving me life\u201d
— Gordon (@Gordon) 1542679542

\u201cThe entire video HOOOOOBOY. When it got to 21 mins I lost it w @EllenPompeo then w @itsgabrielleu saying she started her production company in @HereIsGina\u2019s footsteps. The realest convo of how much code-switching we gotta do to work in this industry. \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffd https://t.co/piBziHA2HZ\u201d
— Jenny Yang (@Jenny Yang) 1542678502

\u201cThis is now an Ellen Pompeo stan account. \n\n(For two hours...)\n\nhttps://t.co/fPWbEbEbzf\u201d
— Tre'vell Anderson (@Tre'vell Anderson) 1542666074

\u201c1) White people sometimes ask me how they can be an ally. @EllenPompeo puts on a master class in how to be one.\n\n2) @itsgabrielleu\u2019s facial expressions are a whole ass mood.\n\n\u201d
— Jemele Hill (@Jemele Hill) 1542683004

\u201cVery much here for Ellen Pompeo drooping truth bombs (and Gabrielle Union\u2019s reaction is priceless).\u201d
— Amon Warmann (@Amon Warmann) 1542661795

\u201c@jemelehill @EllenPompeo @itsgabrielleu \u201cBecause we created the problem\u201d\u201d
— Jemele Hill (@Jemele Hill) 1542683004

\u201cAlly. A person, group, or nation that is associated with another or others for some common cause or purpose. \n\nE.g. Ellen Pompeo \n\nhttps://t.co/3m3FO1ibb6\u201d
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionary.com) 1542725112

— (@)

None
— The cishets are at it again\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\ude36\u200d\ud83c\udf2b\ufe0f (@The cishets are at it again\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\ude36\u200d\ud83c\udf2b\ufe0f) 1542673913

\u201cEllen Pompeo gives a masterclass how to be an ally -- and calls out the very set they're on as part of the problem. Watch the entire last 8 minutes. https://t.co/bGCvctIHV5\u201d
— Amanda Litman (@Amanda Litman) 1542670533

None
— L'*Openly Black* Novella Serena, ABD (@L'*Openly Black* Novella Serena, ABD) 1542719574

\u201cI love Ellen Pompeo so much. She normalizes the idea of diversity for other white people who don\u2019t understand it. Instead of acting like she should be praised for it, she recognizes that it is NORMAL to want and have diversity and representation.\u201d
— sai (@sai) 1542722289

\u201cMy Twitter has been an Ellen Pompeo stan account ever since she tweeted this to Laura Ingraham.\u201d
— Calvin (@Calvin) 1542721326

Watch the full Porter Women in Television roundtable in the video below.

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Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and digital director of Out Magazine. The former editor-in-chief of PRIDE, he is also a die-hard Rihanna and Sailor Moon stan who loves to write about all things pop culture, entertainment, and identities. Follow him on Instagram (@raffyermac) and Twitter (@byraffy), and subscribe to his YouTube channel.