The Bachelorette Hannah Brown's nickname is "Hannah Beast" but she's not the one showing claws in the new ABC Bachelor brawl. Instead, Kelly Ripa said on her show that The Bachelor franchise "disgusts" her; that earned a catty quip from Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss on The Bachelor franchise paying her salary. Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey) jumped in to blast Fleiss' comment from every conceivable direction.
So it's been a fun couple of days behind-the-scenes at ABC, to say the least.
It all started with Kelly Ripa's comments on Live With Kelly and Ryan, timed with the premiere of Hannah B.'s The Bachelorette Season 15 this week:
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. You know how I feel, ladies; we are too special to be arguing over a guy.
The Bachelorette actually has the opposite scenario -- 30 maybe not-so-exceptional men fighting over one woman. But her point was made, and not appreciated by Bachelor Nation. Host Chris Harrison stirred the pot by tweeting a story on Kelly Ripa's comments with the caption "Look out #BachelorNation @KellyRipa is coming after you and your 'disgusting' Monday night habit."
Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss took it to the next level with his tweet, whether it was joking or not, arguing that Kelly Ripa might want to back off since his franchise pays for her ABC salary:
That's when Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo stepped in. Grey's Anatomy has been around on ABC almost as long as The Bachelor. Grey's remains extremely popular -- often with comparable or even more viewers and higher ratings than The Bachelor/ette. Pompeo didn't appreciate Mike Fleiss' swipe at Kelly Ripa or his salary comment. She also left a parting shot at the franchise's mostly white production:
Phew! Yeah, I would not want to mess with Ellen Pompeo. Mer will rip them to shreds. On that note, Busy Philipps also got in on the act in the recent finale for her E! late-night show Busy Tonight, adding her two cents with "Don't' fuck with Ellen Pompeo or Kelly Ripa..."
First of all, who cares if Kelly Ripa isn't a fan of The Bachelor? It's not like she's the first to speak out against it. And the franchise already has plenty of famous and non-famous fans behind it. (Just ask Daniel Radcliffe.) Sure, she's on ABC speaking against another ABC show, but it just gave The Bachelorette more publicity and got fans to stand up for the show. Telling Kelly Ripa his franchise pays her salary just turned the tide against Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss.
Grey's Anatomy just finished up Season 15 last night, with Ellen Pompeo's Meredith Grey in a very tough spot. But we know she'll be sticking around for at least the next two years since ABC just gave Grey's a rare two-season pickup. Hannah B.'s The Bachelorette Season 15 got itself off to a dramatic start and it continues Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC ... whether Kelly Ripa, Ellen Pompeo, or anyone else watches or not.
