Ellen Pompeo Talks to Jada Pinkett Smith About Being Labeled a 'White Bitch'

"Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo joined Jada Pinkett Smith for next Monday's episode of "Red Table Talk," where the two tackle the issue of "reverse racism" in a just-released preview clip.

Sitting alongside Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield Norris, the two women get candid about an incident on Twitter from 2016 that sparked some backlash for Pompeo, whose husband, Chris Ivery, is African American. The two share three children together.

"So, A&E was going to put out this documentary about the KKK. And I had tweeted and was vocal, this isn't cool, you guys shouldn't be making this kind of programming. I don't care in what light that show is, the trailer that I saw was provocative and it was sensationalizing the KKK," Pompeo explained to Jada.

"If you're going to give those dudes money for burning crosses or whatever the f--k they do, that's not okay for me, for A&E," she continued. "A&E walked it back, said we're sorry, we're pulling it. So I was like, black fist emoji, black power."

Well, not everybody was a fan of that tweet, and it led to a back-and-forth between Pompeo and her critics on social media.

"I'm not appropriating culture. I'm just joining the fight," she said to Jada, defending her tweets. "If you call me a white bitch then isn't that judging me on the color of my skin? Why can't I help a victory for black people because I'm white?"

Smith pointed out that being called a "white bitch," among other things, could cause "insecurity" in certain people -- but in Pompeo, "what I can see in you is that it's only created deeper character."

The "Grey's" star explained that, because she "suffered trauma" at an early age when her mother died, she's learned compassion. "I think that that makes you a more compassionate person," she said, "at the root of it, compassion is a great practice."

Pompeo's full episode of "Red Table Talk" airs Monday on Facebook Watch.