Ellen Pompeo Called Out TMZ Over Its Coverage of Kobe Bryant

Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo is singling out TMZ for what she saw as disrespectful coverage of Kobe Bryant's death. According to a series of tweets, Pompeo claims that TMZ reported Bryant's death before members of his family were told and that they actually found out about the helicopter crash through social media. Pompeo called out TMZ founder Harvey Levin for the outlet's methods.

She went on to say that what TMZ did to Bryant's family constituted "emotional abuse" and called for an end to the site's macabre coverage.

"So many questions I have," she continued. "If we are not tolerating abuse anymore... shouldn't we be calling this out? Exploiting women who have been abused... exploiting the brutal sudden death of peoples [sic] loved ones is certainly emotional abuse... I call times up [sic] on his behavior."

"We should be furious about the history of this media outlet regarding women... it's not news, it's exploitation," she finished.

When Twitter users suggested that there are certain employees that may have leaked the information, even going as far as to say that first responders may have tipped off TMZ, Pompeo didn't back down. She said that she knows that certain airlines alert paparazzi and others don't. Though she didn't name names, the responses prove that she did what she set out to do: "provoke thought."

"The airline employees get paid, because let me tell you, there are very specific airlines who always have paps and very specific ones that don't," she claimed.