Grey's Anatomy pays homage to late Disney TV executive Stephanie Leifer in the season 21 premiere

The Season 21 premiere of ABC's “Grey's Anatomy” ended with a card dedicating the episode to Stephanie Leifer. While the name may not be recognizable to the average Grey's fan, the homage is significant to those who worked on the series at any point in its run.

Leifer, who died of cancer in June at age 56, was a popular programming executive who worked at ABC and its sister studio for a combined 28 years before leaving the company in 2022. As a current executive at the network, she led Grey's Anatomy and then at ABC Signature (formerly ABC Studios), where the hit medical drama is produced.

In an interview with Deadline in conjunction with the Season 21 premiere, Grey's Anatomy executive producer/showrunner Meg Marinis discussed the decision to dedicate the episode to Leifer. Marinis had worked with Leifer for more than a decade and a half when she…