Grey’s Anatomy is pausing production on season 22.
The hit medical drama will not be filming on Friday, January 30, as originally planned, according to Deadline. Production on the ABC series is no longer taking place due to a call for a national shutdown by University of Minnesota student groups amid the ongoing anti-ICE protests.
The outlet reported that the decision to temporarily suspend filming was made after production learned that some of the show’s crew members were not planning to show up. Filming is expected to resume on Saturday, January 31, and there has been no news so far about other Hollywood productions being impacted.
Grey’s Anatomy was already meant to be off the air for three weeks. It will return to its regular time slot on February 26 after being preempted — likely due to the upcoming Winter Olympics. For now, repeat episodes of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville will play in Grey’s Anatomy’s usual time slot. The Thursday, January 29, episode ended with Jo (Camilla Luddington) finally being able to go home with her newborns and a return from Kate Walsh.
The show will then return with a new episode featuring several guest stars. Deadline previously revealed that Yellowstone‘s Jen Landon will recur in four episodes as Dr. Tonight Wright, a new plastic surgery attending. Her character has been described as “possess[ing] a magnetic zest for life” and as “a charming and disorganized mess who says yes more than no.” The role could be extended beyond the current season of the show.
There will also be new characters played by Sara Paxton and Connor Price. They will appear in episodes 11 and 12 of the season as a patient’s family member and a patient, respectively.
Grey’s Anatomy has faced plenty of cast shakeups this season alone. After the shocking death of Monica (Natalie Morales), Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) chose to take a sabbatical. It was subsequently reported that Scorsone’s break will last until later this year as the result of a cost-saving measure.
The show is already reducing the minimum guarantees for its veteran cast members to 14 out of the show’s 18 episodes per season. While some of Grey’s Anatomy’s consistent stars will be missing for four episodes, Scorsone’s absence was doubled.
Showrunner Meg Marinis previously hinted that not every character would be safe this season.
“But even in the last two seasons with what you saw this year, we had to reduce the cast a little bit [because of industry-wide budget cuts], and everybody has very passionate feelings about their favorite characters,” Marinis told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2025. “But if we can get the writers upset then we know we’re doing it right. It’s not as satisfying a story if people aren’t upset when someone leaves. It’s supposed to make people upset and sad, so I’m sure there’ll be some arguments. But I’ve been persuaded before to change my mind on things.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.
