Actress Ellen Pompeo, star of ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, challenged Laura Ingraham to a fight after the Fox News host slammed NBA superstar LeBron James for his constant attacks on President Donald Trump.
“Someone tell this bitch to meet me outside,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter on Friday. “Im so not in the mood for playing nice or polite this week.”
Pompeo made the childish threat after Ingraham’s dissing of the popular basketball player whipped up controversy among entertainers, The Wrap reported.
The actress continued her school-yard taunts with several more tweets, defending James and decrying violence in our schools.
Pompeo’s Twitter eruption came a day after the Ingraham slammed LeBron James for his attacks on Donald Trump.
During the February 15 broadcast of her Fox News show, Ingraham Files, she slammed James for his “barely intelligible – not to mention ungrammatical — take on President Trump.”
James made his comments about Trump on the Uninterrupted Rolling With Champion podcast where he said Trump doesn’t “give a f*ck about the people.”
“Well, the climate is hot,” James said. “The number-one job in America, the appointed person, is someone who doesn’t understand the people. And really don’t give a (expletive) about the people.”
James has spent the better part of the last two years attacking Trump at every opportunity and it appears that Ingraham had enough. She excoriated James on her Thursday show:
All right, we’re gonna create a new banner: ‘This is a dumb jock alert.’ NBA superstar Lebron James is talking politics again, and this time it’s R-rated. Here’s his barely intelligible — not to mention ungrammatical — take on President Trump in a new ESPN podcast.
…
I’m numb to this commentary, ‘like.’ Must they run their mouths like that? Unfortunately, a lot of kids and some adults take these ignorant comments seriously. Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in LeBron for kids. This is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the NBA. And it’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball. Oh, and LeBron and Kevin, you’re great players, but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, shut up and dribble.
Ingraham’s comments spurred rebuke from several professional sports players, including Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and Philadelphia Eagles player Chris Long.
Ingraham has released a statement denying any racial motivation in her remarks:
In 2003, I wrote a New York Times bestseller called ‘Shut Up & Sing,’ in which I criticized celebrities like the Dixie Chicks & Barbra Streisand who were trashing then-President George W. Bush. I have used a variation of that title for more than 15 years to respond to performers who sound off on politics. I’ve told Robert DeNiro to ‘Shut Up & Act,’ Jimmy Kimmel to ‘Shut Up & Make Us Laugh,’ and just this week told the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich to ‘Shut up & Coach.’ If pro athletes and entertainers want to freelance as political pundits, then they should not be surprised when they’re called out for insulting politicians. There was no racial intent in my remarks – false, defamatory charges of racism are a transparent attempt to immunize entertainment and sports elites from scrutiny and criticism. Additionally, we stated on my show that these comments came from an ESPN podcast, which was not the case – the content was unaffiliated with ESPN.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.