Ellen Pompeo admits she had a nasty sparring match with Denzel Washington

American actor Ellen Pompeo had once traded barbs with Hollywood’s iconic actor Denzel Washington, as revealed by the actor herself.

During a new episode of her podcast, Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo, the actor, 51, recalled during a chat with costar Patrick Dempsey how she pulled a verbal punch towards the A-lister while he was directing an episode of Grey’s Anatomy in 2016.

Pompeo said the Oscar winner had checked into Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to helm an episode of the medical drama when the nasty match took off.

She said it all began when an actor wasn’t delivering his best performance during the filming.

“He made this choice to speak very softly — and I was pissed that I had to sit there and listen to this apology,” she said.

“And he wasn’t looking at me in the eye. Again, we love actors who make choices. And I yelled at him, I was like, ‘Look at me! When you apologize, look at me!’ And that wasn’t in the dialogue,” she shared.

“Denzel went ham on my [expletive]. He was like, ‘I’m the director! Don’t you tell him what to do!’ I was like, ‘Listen, [expletive], this is my show! This is my set! Who are you telling? You barely even know where the bathroom is!’”

That being said, Pompeo still expressed her admiration for the star, adding that she had “utmost respect for him as an actor, as a director, as everything.”

“I told his wife, I was like, ‘Yeah, he yelled at me today. He let me have it today, and I’m not OK with him, and I’m not looking at him, and I’m not talking to him,’” she added.