“And that’s when things started going sideways for me.”

It wasnt easy forEric Daneto check out of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

As long as they have their Grey, they’re fine.

Eric Dane in Grey’s Anatomy

Eric Dane on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.Bob D’Amico/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

A representative for ABC did not immediately respond toEntertainment Weeklys request for comment.

Still, Dane had only positive things to say aboutGreyscreator,Shonda Rhimes.

“She protected us fiercely,” he recalled.

“She protected us publicly, she protected us privately.

I love Shonda Rhimes, and she protected me, but I was probably fired.

It wasn’t ceremoniously like, ‘You’re fired.’

It was just like, ‘You’re not coming back.'”

At the time, Dane told EW that he was leaving the series for pursue “something different.”

“So it was an opportunity for me to go, and I was interested in something different.

I loved doingGreys Anatomy.

Listen to Dane discuss hisGrey’sdismissal in the podcast above.